To Love and Protect You
by shayster
Summary: Sequel to 'I'll always be by your side'. (Yuffentine) It's time to move in and Yuffie recalls a lot of past memories in the process...please R&R!
1. Prologue

Hey everyone! This is great, I've decided on a title for this story. I really want to thank everyone for coming up with ideas for the title. I especially want to thank Duran the Gladiator for coming up with "To Love and Protect" because well, as you already know, that's the title name! Well, except for the 'You' part. Anyway, I'm glad all of you told me that you wanted a sequel. It gave me an inspiration boost to start this. Thanks, everyone.  
  
Same text applies to this story, just as the prequel (is prequel even a word?): * *-a persons thoughts, talking in their mind. ** **-Chaos speaking " "-speaking [ ]-rarely used; if an action happens quickly ( )- authors notes most of the time ~~~ or +++-new scene; I'll rarely use the '+' sign, though. ~~~- also can mean flashback; I'll let you know if it does or not. If any other text is used, I'll let you know what it means.  
  
As I promised, this prologue goes out to all of you.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Squaresoft owns all Final Fantasy 7 material. I own nothing of any Final Fantasy.  
  
  
  
To Love and Protect You [Prologue] {Dedicated to all the reviewers of 'I'll always be by your side'}  
  
  
  
"Yuffie, dinner's ready!" A familiar feminine voice called from downstairs. "Coming!" Yuffie reached for her bookmark on the nightstand. She slipped it into her small, navy blue book and closed it. She set the book by the alarm clock and hopped up from the bed. "Dinner's getting cold, hurry up, Yuffie!" the voice echoed up the stairway.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I said I'm coming!" she ran out the bedroom door and slid down the guardrail of the steps. She jumped off the end of it and onto the couch, bouncing high into the air, doing a backwards somersault and landing perfectly right in front of the kitchen entrance/exit.  
  
"Showoff..." Cloud mumbled from the kitchen as Tifa cheered and clapped. Vincent just smiled. "At least I HAVE ninja instincts!" Yuffie bragged as she entered and grabbed a plate from the cabinet and rummaged through the various sorts of foods Tifa had prepared. Most of them she liked, though.  
  
"And why would I want ninja instincts?" Cloud chuckled in a jokingly way. "Because they come in handy!" Yuffie smiled as she filled her plate with mashed potatoes, steak, and green beans. She grabbed a bowl and filled it with noodles.  
  
"Aww, look at the big girl eating her vegetables!" Cloud teased. "Hey now, I like green beans!" Yuffie sat down at the table and joined the rest of her friends for dinner.  
  
"Oh by the way, Sunny's doing great." Cloud said out of the blue. "That's good. I really never have the chance to see him." Yuffie wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Well why don't you go pay him a visit after dinner?" Tifa suggested. "Yeah. I think I will..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie exited the house and walked out to the stables. It was already dark and all you could see was the light reflecting from the moon and stars onto the ground. "Huh..." Yuffie sighed as she entered the stables.  
  
Her breath was visible in the cold air. "Brrr..." she rubbed her hands up and down on her arms. "Sure is cold out here..." she walked up to Sunny's stable.  
  
"Hey boy, how have you been?" She petted the large bird on the head. "Wark!" it chirped. "Haha, you miss me? It's kind of been a while." she leaned over the stable door and petted it's back. "Oh!" she saw how neatly the bird's feathers were in line.  
  
"Cloud even brushed you? Wow...he's so nice!" Yuffie laughed and petted the bird on it's head again. She unlatched the lock and opened the stable door. The bird wobbled out as Yuffie took hold of it's reins and led it outside.  
  
"Warrrk!" the golden bird cried as it was led to the outside back part of the stables. "Shh, keep it down, Tifa and Cloud will wake up!" Yuffie commanded Sunny to lay on the ground.  
  
As soon as the bird settled itself to the cold ground, Yuffie sat down next to it. She lay back, watching the stars.  
  
"Remember when we used to do this in Wutai? Gosh, I wanna go back..." Yuffie felt a tear fall from her eye as she continued admiring the stars and their beauty.  
  
"Look up there, Sunny. Those stars have so much freedom..." she wiped the tear from her eye. "While we're grounded down here." she mumbled. Sunny stayed quiet. "But I guess that I have freedom. I don't have to live in Wutai if I don't want to. I can go wherever I want. I can do whatever I want to do. Well, except for drinking at a bar or something...I'm still under-age." She tried to smile.  
  
"And now that I'm alive again..." her voice trailed off. "Well, it's just good to be home." She closed her eyes and said a prayer to Phoenix in her mind. As she finished, a gust of wind blew through her hair.  
  
A moment later, she opened her eyes. "But I'm not really home..." she shook her head. "And here I am, talking to a bird who can't even understand a word I'm saying..."  
  
"Wark...wark..." Sunny looked at Yuffie. "I wish I could understand a word you were saying..." she hugged the bird. "...Do you miss Wutai?" she finally asked as she released him. "......." Sunny looked away.  
  
"Huhh..." Yuffie sighed. "I don't really want to go back, but yet, then again I do. I mean, Wutai is a nice town and all, but dad...dad might not like it if I go back."  
  
Yuffie thought for a moment. "Well, he might, but I don't wanna fetch materia for him again!" she laughed. "Plus I really want to live with Vinnie in his new house, ya know?" she smiled. Another gust of wind struck her.  
  
"Brrrr...its really cold out!"  
  
"Sure is..."  
  
Yuffie about jumped out of her skin. She turned to her side to see who was there.  
  
"Oh Vinnie, it's only you. You almost scared me to death!" Yuffie smirked. "I'm sorry. But may I ask, why you are out here in your pajamas?"  
  
Yuffie looked down at her sky blue pajama pants. They had little gold chocobos all over them. She then looked at her baggy shirt. It was white with a white tiger printed on the front. On the back was KISARAGI printed in bold, red letters.  
  
"Oh...umm well, I just wanted to look at the stars with Sunny. We used to do it all the time in Wutai."  
  
"In your pajamas...?" Vincent still questioned. "Yeah, so what!" she fought back. "Heh, sounds like that crazy ninja girl I've always known." Yuffie blushed a bit and hid her face in the shadows.  
  
"Come on, you're outside wearing a T-shirt in the middle of November!" Vincent chuckled. "It's actually only the 10th of November." Yuffie argued. "Close enough. Aren't you cold?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Then why don't you come on in?"  
  
"I haven't finished watching the stars with Sunny."  
  
Vincent sighed. "Alright...if you're going to stay out longer, then at least wear something warm!" Vincent threw her a jacket. "Thanks." Vincent walked away. Yuffie slipped the jacket on.  
  
"Whoa! This thing's HUGE!" she looked the jacket over. The sleeves were much longer than her arms and the jacket was baggy when she stood up. She looked back at her shirt under the jacket.  
  
*Dad...*  
  
Godo had bought her that shirt when she was 14. He bought her an extra large one so that she'd probably never grow into it. She could wear it around the house as pajamas. A tear fell from her eye.  
  
*...I miss you...*  
  
  
  
  
  
Do you like so far? I hope so! This was a little longer than I expected, but oh well. I mean long for a prologue, not a chapter! Well anyway, please review!! 


	2. Strange Behavior

I'm sorry everyone for not writing in a while. Thanksgiving kinda got in my way. Anyway, please R&R.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of FF7's places, materials, characters, etc. Squaresoft owns them all.  
  
  
  
[Chapter 1: Strange Behavior]  
  
  
  
  
  
"Semmi ne sano la kata?" Yuffie read from her book. "Meaning 'Hello, how are you?' Hmm, it DOES sound familiar." She looked over the sentence once more. "Semmi ne sano la kata?" She smiled.  
  
"It's been so long since I've spoken Wutainese..." she cleared her throat. "Semmi ne sano la kata?"  
  
"Yuso ora desa." Yuffie looked up from her book and saw a bit of red cloth flash past her door. "Vincent?" she closed her book and jumped off the bed.  
  
"Hey, wait!" she called down the hallway as she stepped out her door. "Huh?" she looked down the direction to where she had seen him pass. She ran down the hall sock footed towards his room. "Vinnie?" she called, approaching his room.  
  
She knocked at his door impatiently. "Come in." a voice from inside the room called. She turned the doorknob and flung the door open as she scrambled inside.  
  
"Vincent, what the hell?!" she nearly shouted. He looked up from the desk he was sitting at and focused his glance towards Yuffie. He had a bit of a confused expression.  
  
"Hm?" he questioned her with his eyes. "You know what I'm talking about!" she crossed her arms over her chest and impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. Vincent shook his head. Yuffie rolled her eyes and let out a low, long sigh while unfolding her arms. "C'mon! The Wutainese! I'm not stupid!"  
  
"I know you aren't." Vincent smirked. "This is not time for games, Vinnie! Tell me, how do you know Wutainese?!"  
  
He shrugged. "I just, you know, picked it up."  
  
"You can't just pick it up! It takes weeks, months, maybe even years to learn!"  
  
"I know. I--I just......" Vincent looked backed down at his papers he was working on. "....Never mind...." he groaned. Yuffie looked surprised. "C'mon, you can tell me." She walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. He lightly shook it off. "Please Yuffie, just go."  
  
The hairs on the back of Yuffie's neck rose. Something was wrong. Something she couldn't quite place. She walked out of the room without saying a word.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So what did you guys do today?" Tifa chirped at the dinner table. Vincent said nothing. Yuffie looked away.  
  
Tifa frowned. "What's the matter?" Neither of them said anything. Tifa sighed. "Leave 'em alone. They're probably mad at each other." Cloud pointed out. "No...it's not that..." Yuffie spoke up.  
  
"What then? Are you on your---" Tifa dropped her fork and quickly covered his mouth. "Cloud!!" "What? I was just asking if she was on her---" Tifa crushed his foot with hers. "Ahh! Oww! What was that for!?"  
  
"I'd think it be best if you not ask her that, okay?!" she said through clenched teeth. "Okay, okay!"  
  
"May I be excused?" Yuffie spoke. "Uh, yeah, sure!" Tifa laughed nervously.  
  
Yuffie cleared her plate and walked out.  
  
"See?! Now you scared her off! What kind of person do you think you are?! Asking her if she's on her period! Gosh!"  
  
"Ahem." Tifa's head whipped around to look at Vincent. She turned three different shades of red. "Uh, oh yeah...you're still here..." she said, embarrassed. Vincent got up from the table, cleaned off his plate, and left without a word.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie flipped through pages of her small navy blue book. "C'mon, it's gotta be here somewhere!" she scanned a page with her chocolate brown eyes. "Ah, ha!" she read with her finger on the word.  
  
"Yuso ora desa." She said slowly, reading the definition to the sentence. "I am fine." She said flatly. "So that's what it meant...I knew it sounded Wutainese right when it came from his mouth. I knew it couldn't be any other language. I may have forgot a lot of Wutainese, but I can remember the accent and some of the words, names, phrases, and other things."  
  
She closed the book and rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling with her arms crossed behind her head. She closed her eyes.  
  
*He was acting really strange at dinner...* she thought. *It was almost like he was acting the same way when we first met him.....* she rolled back over on her stomach and tried to erase the thought from her mind, but she felt a flashback coming on.  
  
~~~Flashback~~~  
  
[Knock knock] "Who disturbs my sleep?" came a deep male voice within the coffin that lay before the three comrades. The coffin lid flew off and a strange, tall, dark man stood before them, wearing nothing but black with a blood red cape.  
  
"What do you want?" he snorted bitterly. "Do you know anything about this mansion?" Cloud asked. "Leave me alone." The man stepped back in his coffin and closed the lid.  
  
[Knock knock] The lid flew off again and the man stood before them. "What did I just say? Leave me alone!"  
  
"Hang on, do you know anything about Sephiroth?" the spiky blond spoke up once more. This seemed to get the man's attention. "What about him?"  
  
Cloud explained that Sephiroth had gone mad and everything that went on in the mansion. After he was done, the man told his story of why he was down in the basement and why he was wearing such dark clothes and had a claw for a hand.  
  
"You sleep down here as punishment because you lost your true love? What a weird punishment...sleeping?" the female brunette said. "........" the man didn't answer. Instead, he climbed back into his coffin and closed the lid.  
  
[Knock knock] "Hey, at least tell us your name!" "....Vincent..." came within the coffin. They shrugged and walked out.  
  
As soon as they were about to go up the steps, Vincent appeared in from of them. "Wait....I....I want to join you..." he said. "Huh? Really?" Cloud was surprised. "...Being an Ex-Turk I might be of some help to you." Cloud grinned. "Welcome to AVALANCHE."  
  
As they walked out, Tifa, Yuffie, and Cloud were all asking him questions. Like where he was from, the name of his true love, how old he was, etc.  
  
Yet he never answered them. He kept silent most of the time. "How long have you actually slept in that coffin?" Cloud asked. "....." Vincent kept silent.  
  
"Do you have any family?" Tifa asked. "........"  
  
"Why'd you work for the Turks anyway? I mean they are so stupid! So useless! So...."  
  
~~~End Flashback~~~  
  
Yuffie's eyes flashed open. "Oh man! I forgot I said that!" she sat up frantically. "I'm so stupid!" she mentally kicked herself. "I need to apologize to him!"  
  
She looked at the clock on the nightstand. "10:00? It's THAT early?" she sighed. "He's probably asleep. I'll tell him in the morning." Yuffie crawled up on her pillow and pulled down the covers on her bed. She slipped in and turned off the lamp.  
  
"Yeah...in the morning..." she said before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
Hope you liked that chapter! Please review! 


	3. Vincent's Secret

Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I hope you like this chapter. Please R&R.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any FF7 stuff. Square owns it all.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 2: Vincent's Secret]  
  
  
  
  
  
Yuffie yawned loudly as she walked into the kitchen with her pajamas still on. "Morning already...man, nights fly by these days..." she looked in the pantry.  
  
"Where's all the food?" she wondered aloud. She scurried over to the kitchen counter. "No....not again!" she said as she picked the note up. "Grr, every time, too! They always gotta go to the store in the mornin'!"  
  
Yuffie walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She decided that she might as well watch TV while Tifa and Cloud were gone. She stopped in mid-step as she saw a lump on the couch.  
  
"Mmmm?" she wandered over to the back of the couch and looked down. "Vince?" she whispered. "I didn't see him here before...why is he sleeping down here? What's wrong with his room?"  
  
Yuffie quietly tiptoed to the staircase. "Good morning." Yuffie about jumped out of her skin. Vincent sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "You didn't need to scare me like that!" Yuffie giggled. "Sorry. I was up most of the night, I didn't get to sleep at all."  
  
"Sorry to hear that. Why'd you sleep down here anyway?" she walked over to a chair in the living room and sat down. "Well, I was working late last night in my room. And so I came down here to get something to eat. After I finished eating, I didn't have enough strength to get back up the stairs, so I just fainted on the couch."  
  
Yuffie laughed a bit. "How long were you up for?"  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Yeah, I'll tell him....."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"In the morning...."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
Yuffie was spaced out during Vincent's conversation. "Yuffie? Hey, are you okay?" she shook her head a bit. "Huh? Oh yeah. I'm fine." She laughed nervously.  
  
"Are you sure?" Vincent asked.  
  
"Yeah. It's just...." Yuffie fiddled around with her fingers. "There's been something on my mind. You know when we first met? Remember what I said to you?" "Yes." Vincent responded quickly.  
  
"Oh. It's THAT memorable, huh? Well I'm sorry about what I said."  
  
"No. It's just I never forget anything. Well...maybe SOME things, but not very many. My memory's just good. But yeah, apology accepted."  
  
Yuffie looked up. "Really?" he nodded. "It wasn't that big of a deal. It was just the first time you've met me. You didn't know what I was like or anything. It's okay. It's not like I'm working for the Turks any more anyway."  
  
Yuffie smiled, then frowned. "Please don't get mad when I ask you this, but..." she looked down and fingered the soft cotton fabric on her pajama pants. "Please tell me, how do you know Wutainese?" Vincent's ears sort of perked up as he heard the word "Wutainese".  
  
He grunted. "Now see! Don't get mad! Please, I want to know." She said softly. "Are you comfortable?" he asked. "Huh?"  
  
"This is going to be a long story. Are you comfortable? You might not be standing for a while." Yuffie nodded. "Go ahead."  
  
Vincent sighed. "I've NEVER told ANYONE about this. I expect you to keep it hidden as well. I'm making a decision here. Can I trust you with my secret?"  
  
"Yes. I won't tell a soul."  
  
Vincent cleared his throat.  
  
"I...I grew up in Wutai..." he began. Yuffie shifted into a different position and decided not to interrupt.  
  
"I was born and raised there until I was six. After I turned six, my mother was taken away by Shinra and thrown in a torture chamber..." he paused and looked away. "W...why?" Yuffie asked. "That's horrible!"  
  
He looked back at her. "Shinra knew she had answers about my father. You see, my father was a killer..." Yuffie covered her mouth with her hand. "A k-killer!?" Vincent nodded slowly. "Yes. He wanted revenge on Shinra for the Wutai war between Shinra. And--"  
  
"Whoa, whoa! Hang on a second, the Wutai war happened when I was four!"  
  
"It's not the same war. There were two wars."  
  
"Two?!"  
  
Vincent nodded. "But since my father fought in that war, he saw all that happened when Shinra won and destroyed the town. They tore down buildings and harmed the villagers. My father was really protective of the town, too."  
  
Yuffie urged him to go on. "He wanted revenge. He had always wanted to destroy the whole incorporation of Shinra. Then, one day, he broke in Shinra H.Q and killed twenty of the employees. He was arrested before he could make it up to the main office where the President was."  
  
"That's awful. Your dad must have went through a lot during the war." Yuffie said.  
  
"Yes. But after he was arrested, he escaped a few days later and was never seen again. Then, after that, a couple of months later my mother was thrown in that horrible torture chamber by Shinra. They knew she had answers, but truthfully, she didn't."  
  
"What happened to her...?"  
  
"They killed her...."  
  
"Oh my God...!" Yuffie covered her mouth.  
  
"She told them over and over that she didn't have any idea of where my father went. But they continued to torture her until she told them something. Finally, out of blind rage, they got fed up with her and killed her. I found out that she was killed by Shinra when I was twenty."  
  
"Twenty?! Why so late?"  
  
"They said she was being hospitalized for stress. I believed that when I was a kid, but when I turned seventeen I wanted to go visit her. Yet I was restricted."  
  
"Restricted? By who?"  
  
"Well, I was taken away from Wutai when I was six and sent to some place I didn't even recognize. I still don't know where they took me."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Shinra. After they killed my mom, I had no where else to go. I ended up going to this unfamiliar place."  
  
"If you had to return today, you wouldn't even know where you were?"  
  
"I don't know. It depends, if I were taken there out cold I wouldn't know, but if I was conscious I probably would. All I remember when I was a kid was a dark, musty place. Then, when I turned ten they shipped me off back to Wutai for a couple of months. And I saw..."  
  
"You saw...?"  
  
"Me and Roy used to be best friends. He would be there for me like a brother. I met him when I was five and when I went back when I was ten I saw him again. He hadn't changed a bit. His hair was still a bit long and dark brown."  
  
"What about his eyes?"  
  
"......."  
  
"Vince?"  
  
"His eyes were still brown as well."  
  
"Brown? But I thought they were--"  
  
"Scarlet? Blood red? I know. Our eyes changed color after the things Hojo did to us."  
  
"What color were your eyes?"  
  
"Well...they were a really soft blue color. I can't really describe it. It was like the color of Cloud's eyes, only much of a paler blue. But it's so weird, when I became a Turk my eyes sort of faded to a brown color."  
  
"Two eye colors?! How weird!"  
  
Vincent looked deep into her eyes. "Yeah, they were a little darker than yours. A bit darker than hazel. I mean I've heard of people's eyes fading from green to blue or vise versa, but from blue to brown? It's weird."  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
"But anyway, back to the story. Roy was my best friend, and when I came back to Wutai when I was ten, we were -as you would call it- 'best buds'. After I was taken back by Shinra two months later, Roy was angry that I was leaving. He was so furious that two weeks after I went back to that musty place, I heard that he killed someone."  
  
"Wow..."  
  
"And the killing never stopped. Each week he'd pick out a target, like he was being possessed by a demon, and murder them. It was so horrible..."  
  
"How come I've never heard about this? I've always lived in Wutai."  
  
"Because...he killed the people in different towns. He just killed innocent people in rage to see me again. We were like brothers..."  
  
"Did you ever see him again?"  
  
"The first time I saw him after that was at Costa Del Sol when we went for vacation. I knew it was him, even after all those years we've been separated. Then, when I turned eleven, I was shipped to the cottage we saw on our journey. You know, the one by the Gold Saucer?"  
  
"The one where we saw that man who talked about the Temple of Ancients. He had all those weapons in his cottage and he taught Aeris the Great Gospel attack in exchange for some Mythril. Yeah I know."  
  
"Yeah. That's where I was shipped. It was better than that musty old place."  
  
"Who watched over you when you lived in both places?"  
  
"I don't remember. It was some guy. I don't know his name. But he took care of me. Now, to skip past all the unimportant details, when I turned sixteen, Shinra took me in and made me a Turk. I didn't have any other job to apply for then, so I just took it. But now, if I could change the past, I'd go back and never agree to work with Shinra. Because now...now I know what really happened to my mother. Argh, those Shinra bastards!!"  
  
Vincent punched a pillow. "Because of Shinra I lost most of my left arm!! Because of Shinra my parents are dead! Because of Shinra everyone's suffered! Barret lost his hometown, Tifa lost her father, Cloud lost his mother, Aeris lost her father, (by the way, her father was Professor Gast) Cid lost his job as a pilot, you've lost your hometown's image AND your mother, and I've lost everything!"  
  
"Actually...it wasn't Shinra's fault my mother died..."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"YOU!!!! You're the one who killed my mother!!!"  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"You're Roy!!!"  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Oh I'm so sorry..." he said guiltily. "It's okay..." Vincent cleared his throat. "Do you still want to hear more?" Yuffie nodded.  
  
"Well after I became a Turk, I later found out that my mother was killed by Shinra after searching through some files in the President's office, so I was going to quit. But before I did, I had my mind set on proposing to Lucrecia. And THAT'S when Hojo fucked up my life. Both me and Roy's, he just couldn't get enough of torturing us."  
  
"I'm so sorry..."  
  
"And he's the one who tortured my mother...he killed her...THAT STUPID SON OF A FUCKIN' BITCH!!" he shouted.  
  
"....."  
  
"And I'm glad he died. I'm glad that I took part in his death too. That ass hole should have died a long time ago. He killed Lucrecia by poisoning her with Mako and Jenova Cells. He's the beast who created Sephiroth! He's the one who experimented on his own wife! And above all, he killed so many innocent people!"  
  
"I hope he went to Hell."  
  
"Why wouldn't he? He has no damn right to go to Heaven!"  
  
"Vincent...I'm so sorry you've had to suffer most all of your life. People you knew and loved died right before your eyes. I've only experienced that once..." tears fell from her eyes as she covered her face.  
  
Vincent got up slowly from the couch and walked over to Yuffie. He sat right next to her on the chair and embraced her in a warm hug. "That's why I was afraid of losing you..." she buried her face in his chest.  
  
He ran his fingers through her hair with his good hand. "I never wanted to lose you. That's why I did all I could to get Phoenix to revive you. I couldn't let you go. If Phoenix were to never be at the cave, and the Lifestream would have took you, I don't know what I would do..."  
  
She looked up at him with tearful eyes as he lowered his head and kissed her with endless passion.  
  
  
  
  
  
Hope you liked that chapter! Please review! I love you all! Hehehe... 


	4. Friday the 13th

Here's chapter 3, everyone. Hope you enjoy it. Please R&R!  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or anything in it. Squaresoft owns it all.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 3: Friday the 13th]  
  
  
  
  
  
Vincent awoke the next day to the sound of the shower. The water pipes led into his room and ran underneath the room's floor. Luckily, there were four bathrooms in the house and only Yuffie's could be heard from his room. He yawned and stretched underneath the covers. He felt so tired, yet he didn't know why. He rolled over on his side to look at the alarm clock next to him.  
  
"Oh man! I overslept!" he said as he pushed all the covers off of him and left them in a messy pile on the bed. He quickly grabbed a few things out of the closet and headed into his bathroom.  
  
Vincent turned on the water to the shower. He stripped his black boxers off (A/N: Yes, that's the only thing he was wearing at the time. *wink wink*) and was such in a hurry that he jumped in the shower before testing the water.  
  
He bit his lip and tried to resist yelling. He turned the knob all the way to hot and stepped back away from the water until it heated up.  
  
**Hehehe...You're a moron.** Chaos chuckled.  
  
*I didn't know it'd be cold!* Vincent almost laughed at his foolishness.  
  
The water heated up as Vincent stepped into it. "Much better..." he grabbed the shampoo and squeezed the bottle.  
  
Nothing came out.  
  
He shook and squeezed a few more times before lifting it above his head. He closed one eye and looked up into the bottle with the other one.  
  
Before he knew it, a big goop of shampoo had made its way to the edge of the bottle and dropped into his eye.  
  
"Ahhh! Shit!!" he dropped the bottle and rubbed his eyes, getting some shampoo into the other eye in the process. And to make things even worse, the hot water turned to freezing cold.  
  
**Hahahahahaha!** Chaos laughed his head off.  
  
Vincent blindly stepped back and slipped on the bar of soap, causing him to fall into the shower curtain. He grabbed on for dear life as he tumbled forward and ripped the curtain ring from ring.  
  
As soon as he came to the last ring, he stopped. The last ring was supporting his weight. He looked up with blurry vision.  
  
"Please...oh please..." he tried placing one of his feet back down on the bathtub floor, but as he shifted his weight, the last ring snapped and Vincent went tumbling down to the hard surfaced bathroom floor.  
  
"Owww!" he rubbed his head as he got to his knees and reached in the shower and turned off the water. "Yuffie...why'd you use all the hot water?" he whispered and got to his feet.  
  
**Ya know what?**  
  
*Shut up! I know what happened! Don't call me a moron!*  
  
Vincent rubbed the remaining shampoo from his eyes. "Hey, where's my clothes?" he shivered from the cold water still on his body. He reached for a towel and wrapped himself in it.  
  
His ears folded back. "Wait a minute..." he picked up the wet, fallen shower curtain and saw his clothes, soaked. He growled and picked them up in rage. He walked out of the bathroom and back to his closet. On the way there, he passed a mirror.  
  
"Huh?" he backed up to the mirror and looked at himself. "Ahh, my eyes!" he rubbed his eyes some more. When he looked back at the mirror, his eyes were still red and watery. "What luck!" he said sarcastically and walked to his closet.  
  
Luckily for him, he had spare black shirts and black pants. He grabbed them and threw them on the bed along with some boots.  
  
Vincent chucked his damp clothes into the laundry basket and slipped on the dry clothes. Instead of wearing his usual gold boots, he slipped on a pair of black boots. He decided not to wear his scarlet cape.  
  
Vincent went back into the bathroom and towel-dried his hair. He then ran a comb through his raven black hair. As soon as he was satisfied, he brushed his teeth and walked out.  
  
"God what a morning!" he walked downstairs and into the kitchen. "Hey, Vinnie!" Yuffie greeted him as he entered. "What was all that commotion upstairs?"  
  
He looked around in the kitchen. "Oh nothing. Where's Cloud and Tifa?"  
  
"They're out riding chocobos. Sunny and Raven needed exercise." She grabbed the cereal box and poured some cereal into her bowl. "How long have they been gone?" he asked. "Hmm, let's see...they left around 11:00." Vincent sighed in relief. It was only 11:45, so they weren't home when the shower incident happened.  
  
"Well...I'll tell you what happened, but you CANNOT tell Cloud and Tifa, okay?" Yuffie nodded and smiled. "By the look in your eyes, it seems as though you've done something bad. Really bad." Her smile went to a grin.  
  
"Not really bad, but it's not good. I...ummm...had some bad luck in the shower and ended up ripping their shower curtain." Yuffie burst out laughing. "I knew you had to have done something like that from the noise that came from your bathroom! What did you do? Fall asleep in the shower?" she snickered. "I don't want to talk about it. I need to go to town and get a new shower curtain. What time did they say they'd be back?"  
  
"Around 1:00 or so." Vincent nodded and started toward the living room. "Hey wait. Umm, could I come? I have nothing better to do." Yuffie spoke up as Vincent turned halfway and looked at her solemnly for a long moment. "Get dressed."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie giggled and jumped around in the piles of leaves by the villagers' homes like a little girl. Each home they passed had a pile of leaves in the front yard and Yuffie liked jumping into them.  
  
"You know, the people that raked those leaves up have to take all that time to rake them back up again." Vincent chuckled. He really enjoyed seeing Yuffie so happy and cheerful. Seeing her jump in and out of the piles of leaves was entertaining and amusing to him.  
  
"So what, they're too lazy anyway!" he also liked her attitude. So youthful, he thought.  
  
As they approached a clothing store, Yuffie hopped out of the last pile of leaves and ran up to Vincent. "Hey, while we're here, can I go shopping?" she asked sweetly. "Just until I get the curtain, then we're leaving." She smiled. "Thanks."  
  
"I'll be by to pick you up after I get the curtain, so stay here, okay?" Yuffie nodded. As she turned to walk to the store, she spotted something shiny partially under a leaf. "Hmm?" she bent down and swept the leaf away. "Ohh!"  
  
"What? What'd you find?" Vincent rushed over to her as she picked up the shiny coin and held it up. "I found 500 gil!" she bounced up and down happily. "Wow...and I thought Friday the 13th was unlucky!" she dropped the coin into her pocket.  
  
Vincent's ears folded back. "You mean to tell me TODAY is Friday the 13th?" he said in a low-pitched voice. "Mmm-hmm. And I was wondering, 'wow, Vinnie had such bad luck in the shower. I wonder what's gonna happen to me today?' ever since you told me that."  
  
Vincent turned, his cape blowing back in the light wind. He decided to put it on before he left. "I never believed that until today." He walked off as Yuffie laughed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"That'll be three hundred and fifty gil, please." The saleswoman said. "Three hundred?! Just for a shower curtain!?" Vincent complained. The saleswoman gave him a stone-cold glare. "Fine." He handed her the money and walked out with the square package in his hands.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Man, I can't afford this!" Yuffie looked at the deep purple cotton sweater. She turned it over and saw a big hole. "Ugh, never mind!" she put it back on the rack of sweaters as she heard the bell of the door being opened. She ducked and looked through a hole of clothes and saw Vincent.  
  
"Hehehe..." she snuck quietly to the men's section of clothes and climbed into a clothes rack of black shirts and sweaters. Vincent searched over the women's section and found nothing. "Yuffie? Where are you?" he said as Yuffie tried not to giggle.  
  
*I told her to stay here...* Vincent thought.  
  
**She's probably still here. Just wait for her, she might be in the dressing rooms.**  
  
*Yeah.*  
  
Vincent decided to go look at the men's clothes.  
  
**Lemme guess, black, right?**  
  
Vincent chuckled as a sign of 'yes'. He went over to the rack of black shirts.  
  
*I knew it! He always wants black!* Yuffie thought.  
  
Vincent was going to the black sweaters where Yuffie was hiding. He was about to pull one out when something pounced out of the rack and tackled him to the ground.  
  
"Whoa! Hahaha!" he laughed as she stood on all fours on him. "Grr, I am the mighty lioness out to kill!" she giggled as she stepped off of him. "Hehehe, then if you're a mighty lioness, then I'm the powerful lion king!" he roared playfully.  
  
"Ahem." The saleswoman looked down at the couple. "If you want to act like children, do it somewhere else!" she nearly shouted. Yuffie jumped up and got in her face. "Excuse me, but you can't tell US what to do!" she shouted.  
  
"Well then, at least get out of my store!!" the saleswoman shot back.  
  
Yuffie looked as though she was about to smack her. She held back against it though. She already knew how much trouble she would be in if she did.  
  
"C'mon Vinnie, let's go." She helped him up. "You haven't won yet..." said Yuffie as she slipped her the middle finger on the way out.  
  
As the two exited the store, they laughed and gave each other a high-five. "Stupid bitch, who the hell does she think she is?!" Yuffie clenched her fists. "Hey, calm down. It's over, so let's just get home before Cloud and Tifa get back." Vincent said.  
  
Yuffie's eyes sparkled as she saw two huge piles of leaves. "C'mon Vinnie, let's jump in 'em!" Vincent felt a little spark of playfulness in him and had an idea right then. He decided to trick her. He shook his head.  
  
"No, that's okay, you can if you want." Yuffie shrugged and jumped in the first huge pile of leaves. She pretended to swim in them as she giggled. She lay down in them.  
  
The pile was so huge, that it covered her whole body. This gave Vincent's idea a boost. Yuffie sat up and jumped into the second huge pile, which was right next to the first. She lay down and relaxed, letting the leaves cover her whole body.  
  
Now was Vincent's chance to put his plan into action.  
  
He quietly pounced into the first pile of leaves, his red cape blending in with some of the red leaves, acting as camouflage. He lay down fully to hide his whole body.  
  
Yuffie sat up and looked back to where Vincent was last standing. She saw nothing.  
  
"Vinnie?" she stood up. "Yo, where'd ya go?" she looked toward the direction of the house. With her back turned, Vincent snuck closer towards the second pile of leaves. He crawled without crushing any leaves.  
  
"Umm...?" Yuffie bit her lip and turned to the direction of the clothing store. Vincent lay still.  
  
*Maybe he went home...?* she thought. She looked back up to the direction of the house. Vincent was about six feet away from her.  
  
With her back turned for the second time, he lifted his body up in a crouching position. He grinned and readied himself in a pouncing position, yet a twig from beneath his foot snapped in two and alerted Yuffie immediately. She turned just to see him lunge toward her.  
  
"Ahh!" [Thump] "Ahahaha!" she laughed as she saw her 'stalker' on top of her. "Ha! Now I've pinned you!" he laughed.  
  
"You little punk!" she said jokingly. "I thought you went home without me!"  
  
"Never."  
  
"Never?"  
  
"Never ever."  
  
"Never ever ever?"  
  
"Yes. Never." He laughed. She looked up at him. "Never say never." She pushed him playfully to the ground and crawled on top of him. "Oh yeah?" he repeated the process of pushing her playfully to the ground and crawling on top of her. They laughed and pushed each other around in the leaves for another five minutes before Yuffie remained under Vincent and resisted getting back on top.  
  
"Uhh...I'm dizzy..." she giggled. "Ah ha! Then the mighty lion king has won again!" Vincent teased. "Not a chance!" Yuffie pushed him down into the leaves and gained upper position again.  
  
He grinned and pushed her down and crawled on top, his loose ponytail coming undone and his hair falling down, hiding most of his face. For a long moment, everything lay still as they stared into each other's eyes. And oh how beautiful that moment was for the both of them.  
  
The wind blew silently and softly. It was so peaceful.  
  
Vincent lowered his head and kissed her softly. She returned the kiss while wrapping her arms around his back. It was so much like the kiss she'd experienced after he saved her: she never wanted it to end.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Damn, what time is it?" Vincent said as they walked. "And you're asking me? The last time I saw a clock was at the clothes store. It was 12:10 when we left."  
  
"Good, that'll give me time to put the shower curtain on before they get home. It's probably 12:40 now. I don't want Cloud finding out about this, he'll probably kill me." He sighed.  
  
Yuffie laughed. "Hey remember that bitch at the clothes store? I want to get revenge." They stepped up to the front door and Yuffie was the first one in, followed by Vincent.  
  
"And I mean, did you see the look on her face after I--" Yuffie stopped in mid-step, leaving one foot in the air. Vincent did as well as they both looked towards the couch.  
  
"Umm, hey guys...heh heh, you're home early..." Yuffie chuckled nervously. Cloud looked impatient as he stood up. "Vince, we need to have a talk about other people's property. Let's start with the bathroom."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Oh boy, Vinnie was caught! Oh, I hope you liked that chapter, please review! ^__^! 


	5. Girl Talk

Thanks for the nice reviews, everyone. I especially want to thank Ruri- sugar for the nice reviews. Keep sending those reviews in while I keep adding chapters ~_^!  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Squaresoft owns all FF7 material.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 4: Girl Talk]  
  
  
  
  
  
"It's been two days since Vinnie got caught..." Yuffie said studying her Wutainese book. "It's not fair, it wasn't HIS fault he had bad luck in the shower. After all, it WAS Friday the 13th. And Cloud has to be so mean about it! Making Vinnie clean up the bathroom and the whole house! Gawd!"  
  
Yuffie studied her book over as she heard voices from outside of the room. She quietly walked out to the hallway and up to Cloud's door from where the sound was coming from. She put her ear against the door.  
  
"So Vincent, do you think you've done your task properly?" A male voice inside spoke. Cloud.  
  
"Yes. Can I please go work on something else now?" Another male voice came from inside the room. Vincent.  
  
"Oh no, I've only just begun..." Cloud laughed as Vincent groaned. "Come on, man! I need a break! At least I paid for the new shower curtain and cleaned the whole house!"  
  
"Oh, this is not a hard task..." the sound of papers being ruffled was heard. "In fact..." Cloud cut himself off. "Just look at this..." a gasp was heard from inside the room. "Oh my God...! Cloud, no way!" Vincent sounded excited.  
  
*What? What're they doing?* Yuffie pondered in her thoughts.  
  
"Yup. After a long time of working late in the night, I've finally got this set up for you. I hope you're happy." Cloud sounded a little excited as well. "Oh, but I am! Thank you so much!"  
  
*Huh?*  
  
Footsteps were heard in the room. Yuffie knew they were headed her way. "Uhh..." she looked both ways as for a way to escape. "You sure are a pal, Cloud!" Vincent chuckled. The doorknob was being turned. "Uhh..."  
  
Vincent opened the door. "Haha! Yeah thanks again!" the man walked swiftly out the door. He sensed something and walked over to Yuffie's bedroom. As he passed, he looked through the open door.  
  
"Hmm..." he shrugged and walked on past, his cape fluttering as he walked.  
  
Yuffie pulled her knees up to her chest as she sat behind the back of the door.  
  
"There is SO no way I need to be caught eavesdropping by Vinnie!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Yummi ne fio coan boi nei." Yuffie spoke. "I think I'm getting the hang of this again!" she said happily. "I only spoke Wutainese when I was like, seven! I wonder how Vincent remembered all of his, he's older than me and he hasn't spoken the language since he was six or so. He was right...he does have a good memory and never forgets anything..."  
  
She heard a knock on her bedroom door. "Come in." Vincent opened the door and walked in. "Hey Vinnie, what's up?" she still lay on her stomach casually on her bed. "I thought of an idea. It's kind of funny, but it depends on if you're up to it."  
  
She nodded. "Cloud and Tifa don't know any Wutainese. So I figured..." "We could teach them?" Yuffie interrupted. "No...but if you already remember most of the language, then we could talk like that around them. They won't know what we're saying! It'll be fun!"  
  
Yuffie smiled.  
  
*He's becoming more like me...*  
  
"Sure! That would be fun, but I need to study a bit more. I almost know all the phrases and stuff."  
  
"I can help you review if you'd like." Vincent offered. "Yeah okay. I only need to do a little more." He sat down in the chair to the left side of the bed. "Lasso miu sei no ionly?" he asked.  
  
"Er...Mano lano jenop isa mons?" Vincent shook his head. "No it's Mano lano jenop isanu mons." "Oh..."  
  
"This might take a while..." he groaned.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Vincent, Yuffie! Dinner!" Tifa yelled up the stairs. Yuffie stepped out of her room at the exact same time as Vincent did out of his. They looked at each other and nodded.  
  
They went down the stairs silently.  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"You'll do fine...just don't think about it so much."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
*I sure hope you're right, Vinnie...*  
  
They stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a plate and filled it with food. Yuffie sat down right beside Vincent.  
  
"So, how was your guys' day?" Tifa said cheerfully at the dinner table. Neither one answered.  
  
"Aw, naw, it looks like Yuffie may be on her---" Cloud was cut off by Tifa smashing his foot. "Let's not start that again." Yuffie looked at Vincent as he looked at her. "Neschino leme kama..." he spoke.  
  
"Wha---?" Cloud looked surprised.  
  
Translation: "There they go again..."  
  
"Lono rei seni mosure junt isoneu kusa." Yuffie replied.  
  
Translation: "Yeah, those two can be a handful!"  
  
Vincent smirked. "Lono poso ne lama humari!"  
  
Translation: "Yeah, you're getting the hang of it!"  
  
"You guys quit!" Cloud complained. "Isn't that Wutainese?" Tifa asked. "Yup." Yuffie grinned. "Sure is."  
  
"Talk some more in it! I like it!" Tifa smiled. "Umm...Cloud ornano do portano se limio perte `comnso de ionos. Constanze la hama zaki neso le Vinnie meanee. Nosano lana ortyaba seleme!"  
  
Vincent spit out his soda everywhere and burst out laughing. "Yuffie!" he said between laughs.  
  
"What?" she smiled innocently.  
  
"What'd she say?" Cloud asked.  
  
Translation: "Cloud has porno magazines in his bedroom under his bed. I've seen them there when I was helping Vinnie clean. He has them because he knows that he can't get any!"  
  
"Tell us what it means! It had my name in it!" Cloud demanded. "Yeah, I wanna know too! It was so pretty sounding!" Yuffie spit out her soda in surprise and laughed so hard her lungs hurt. Vincent was falling out of his chair already from laughing so hard.  
  
"HAHAHA!! I don't think you wanna know!!" Yuffie said between laughs. "Is it nasty?" Tifa asked. "Let's just say it's not appropriate for the dinner table." Vincent said as he regained his normal position and tried to stop laughing. He failed. He fell completely out of his seat with laughter.  
  
"It......wasn't....as....pretty....as you....thought it...would've been...!" Yuffie said in between fits of laughter. Cloud and Tifa looked at them real funny-like and scratched their heads in confusion as the couple across from them laughed their asses off.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie watched the night stars with Tifa out on the deck. She would laugh here and there about the incident at dinner.  
  
"Aren't the stars so pretty?" Tifa sighed. "Yeah..." Yuffie inhaled the crisp night's air. "I wonder what Vinnie and Cloud are doin'?"  
  
"Probably working on something. Guys; they're so weird. Take my advice and NEVER get married!" Tifa laughed jokingly. "I thought that's what you wanted!" Yuffie said.  
  
"Yes. Of course it is. I love Cloud. I truly do and I'm so glad we have made the commitment of marriage to each other. Just take my real advice; before you marry someone, make sure he's the right one. If you marry someone who doesn't care for you, then you'll be really screwed up."  
  
"Yeah...but damn it! You found the right guy when you were young. I have to choose! It's like destiny for you; you found your true love when you were young. Damn my luck. I had a rough life even before I met you all."  
  
Tifa looked sad. Yuffie got up and walked to the door. "Don't leave yet..." Tifa whispered barely enough for Yuffie to hear. She walked back over by Tifa and sat down. She looked into her eyes.  
  
*She's crying...* Yuffie thought.  
  
"I--I never really get to talk to you...you're always with Vincent or in your room. It makes me sad when you're here and I never get to talk with you. That's why at dinner, I always try to strike up a conversation." She wiped her eyes with her hands.  
  
"I want to talk with another girl. It's not the same talking to Cloud about things so personal."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Where's my materia?!" Tifa yelled. Cloud looked for his as well. "Oh no! Yuffie ran off with our materia!"  
  
"What?! Ohh, I'll never forgive her for this!!"  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Never..."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Forgive..."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
Tifa started sobbing. "Yuffie I--" she sobbed harder. "Remember when you stole all of our materia? I was just so mad...I never wanted to speak to you ever again, but now..."  
  
"Now I'm not the same old fuckin'-bratty-ass-no-good-immature-ungrateful- teenager anymore. Yeah, people hated me for what I did. I don't even give a damn what people think anymore. That's why I stole materia, gave cold shoulder to most people I hated, and above all, acted so immature and bratty to everyone." She paused.  
  
"That's why I changed my ways in order to make friends with you. Before I met you guys, I had no friends. All the girls in Wutai thought I was too boyish and couldn't be a real woman because I didn't have a mother. The boys thought I was just a weird tomboy. That's why I became the Yuffie you met in the forest." She grunted.  
  
"I'm sorry to bring this up, but why were you in the forest in the first place?" Tifa continued to sob.  
  
"I ran away from Wutai. My stupid father continued to increase my ninja instincts so that I would be able to hunt for materia on my own. Finally, when I couldn't take it anymore, I started stealing materia for myself. I stopped hunting it for him and began hunting it for me. I really thought I alone could bring Wutai's 'resort town' image to the big and beautiful village it used to be."  
  
"If your father continued to yearn the materia orbs for the same intention-- "  
  
"Ha! The same intention? He not only wanted to restore Wutai, but to be the best of all ninjas. He wanted an empire of all ninjas, and nothing else!"  
  
"But he is the Supreme ruler of Wutai now. What more power does he want?"  
  
"I don't know. He's always been that way. So greedy and yet, I don't know. He was so loving and caring when my mother was around. But after she passed away, Godo...dad was so damn persistent. He wanted all. He wanted to receive the ultimate gift of Leviathan, to be the best and top-ranking ninja of all times." She paused again.  
  
"But I ran from home because I couldn't take the stress. I had no friends, I had barely what you could call a family, and worse yet, all the villagers thought I was just an ungrateful teenage brat who always wanted my way. They called me an arrogant foul-mouth whom could NEVER take Godo's place after his death as ruler. "  
  
"I'm so sorry. I never knew what kind of trouble and mischief you grew up in. I will forgive you for taking our materia. It was to serve your town and I should have made the donation. I just never knew. Why didn't you tell us?"  
  
"...People thought I never had feelings. They didn't listen to me. They didn't know I cried or didn't give a damn about anything I treasure in life. They didn't listen to my stories. I didn't think you guys were any different. I kept it all bottled up inside of me. It'll seep out once in awhile, my true feelings towards life, but all in all, I don't think it'll all come out."  
  
"I'm sorry for the way I acted towards you. I look at you differently now. You're more than just my friend. You're my best friend." Tifa hugged Yuffie tightly.  
  
"So...this is what friendship feels like..." Yuffie said in a gruff voice. This made Tifa cry harder. "Shh now, you don't need to feel sympathy towards me. I've never felt it before and I don't need to feel it now." Tifa hugged her friend harder.  
  
"Please don't say that...you sound like....."  
  
*She sounds just like Vincent...*  
  
"Like who?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
*So cold and dark inside. She's kept her feelings hidden and never wanted to express them with anyone.*  
  
~*~ Anyone but you...~*~ a voice inside her head told her.  
  
*Why not Vincent? Is it because...?*  
  
"You're the only one who can understand what a girl feels like." Yuffie suddenly said, as though she heard the conversation in Tifa's mind. "Vinnie can't possibly..."  
  
"He'll understand. He's had a rough past as well. You can tell it through his eyes."  
  
"That doesn't mean anything. You are a girl, just like me. Girls all have strong bonds in their hearts and can communicate through those bonds. Guys can't connect with their hearts like us. They can with love, but not complete understanding."  
  
"We're like sisters then?"  
  
"In a way...yes." Yuffie smiled as the two women broke the hug. After a few moments, Tifa decided to change the subject.  
  
"But remember when you told us that you had the materia you stole in your basement?"  
  
"Ohh, ohh! And when I led you guys down there and you went in the room with the statues!" Yuffie grinned.  
  
"And you said for Cloud to pull the lever! And he did! Haha!"  
  
"And you and Barret were trapped! Ah yeah! That was so funny! I tried to make the trap to where all three of you were trapped, but it didn't work. But what a time I had getting away!"  
  
"The major pursuit of Yuffie Kisaragi has gotten out of hand!" Tifa said in an announcer's voice as they both laughed.  
  
"Hey-hey! Remember this? "You gotta be tough as steel to get the materia! Get it? Steel?" Ah that joke was so corny!" Yuffie laughed. And they continued to laugh until they both fell asleep from the exhaustion.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Long chapter there! Hope you liked it, please review!! 


	6. Reeve's Visit

Hello!! Man I'm soooo sorry for not writing in like, FOREVER! About a week before Christmas I traveled up to Ohio to visit family for the holidays and the New Year and I just got back. By the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! ^_^ I know I'm kinda late about that, but hey, I wish a great New Year for everyone. Now it's just gonna take me forever to start writing 2003 on my checks and stuff. Anyway, on to the story!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any FF7 stuff. Square owns it all.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 5: Reeve's Visit]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Yuffie yawned loudly as she rolled over in bed. "Morning already..."  
  
She slid out of bed and noticed she had her regular outfit on. Something flickered in her mind, recalling last night's events. "Aww...Vinnie's so sweet." She remembered him carrying her to her bed as did Cloud to Tifa. She had awaken to his touch, as she was trained to be a light sleeper, and had awaken in his arms, though remained awake, pretended to still be asleep as he gently set her down in her bed and covered her with blankets.  
  
As she thought about yesterday's events, another memory rang in her mind. Her face creased into a frown. "What did Cloud show Vinnie? And why was he so happy?" she thought for a moment, then shrugged it off as she strode into the bathroom and combed her hair and brushed her teeth.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
About ten minutes after Yuffie had awakened, she decided to go and get some breakfast. When she reached the kitchen, she saw Cloud sipping coffee and reading a newspaper, Tifa was working on a jigsaw puzzle, and Vincent was writing on some paperwork.  
  
"What's up?" Yuffie said as she approached the pantry for food. "Hey..." they all said at different times, as if acting board. "What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
Cloud folded his newspaper and set it on the table. He closed his eyes and sipped his coffee while turning to face Yuffie. He let out a long, dreary sigh.  
  
"It's Reeve...he's...coming over to 'apologize'. We said it would fine, but he insisted. We all know it wasn't HIS fault for the actions he caused. Roy just possessed him." Yuffie flinched at the name 'Roy'. Cloud saw this and apologized for bringing up the subject.  
  
Vincent didn't seem to look up from his work. He'd read here and there, then write. Yuffie had no idea what he was up to. She decided to have a small breakfast since Tifa didn't bother to make one this morning.  
  
"So what time is Reeve comin' over?" Yuffie asked as she pushed the toaster button down. "He said about noon." Cloud replied. Yuffie looked at the clock. "Whoa! It's already 11? I gotta go take a shower!" she ran out of the room, forgetting about her toast.  
  
She quickly turned on the water to the shower and stripped off her clothes. She hopped in and grabbed the soap and scrubbed herself thoroughly. Afterwards, she grabbed the shampoo and squirted some onto her hand. She cleaned her hair and rinsed it over and over.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around her skinny form and combed back her hair.  
  
She combed it down as far as it would go. "Wow...my hair has gotten longer!" she saw that her hair reached all the way to her shoulders. "Ninjas don't have long hair...it gets in their way when they're fighting." She took another towel and dried her hair with it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tifa walked into her room to get changed into something nicer. As she picked something from the closet, she heard a knock at her door. "Come in." she expected it to be Cloud, but was surprised when she saw Yuffie open the door.  
  
"Hey, what brings you here?" Tifa asked as she laid a silk black spaghetti strap dress on the bed. "Well..." Yuffie scuffed at the carpet with her sock foot. "I was wondering...ummm...will you give me a haircut? I mean, since you used to cut hair before you were a bar hostess..."  
  
"Sure!" Yuffie looked up with hopeful eyes. "Really?! Thank you so much!"  
  
Tifa grinned. "No problem, I mean, I may not be as good as I used to be, but I can probably manage to do a pretty good job." Yuffie grinned back. "Good, I was hopin' you'd say yes cause I don't have any gil."  
  
Tifa nodded. "Anytime, now come into the bathroom so we don't make a mess out here."  
  
Yuffie walked into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bathtub. "Lemme go get some scissors. Be right back." Tifa left and ran downstairs. Yuffie heard a squeal of delight from downstairs as she heard Tifa pound up the stairs, running at a fast speed from the sound of it.  
  
"What? What happened?" Yuffie asked Tifa entered the bathroom with a big smile. "I found the scissors that I used in the barber shop! The exact same ones I used! I'll be able to give you the best haircut ever!" she exclaimed. "I didn't want to use the ones that you cut paper with because those will be hard to cut through hair with. You're lucky that I found these."  
  
Yuffie let out a small laugh. "Yeah, well let's hurry. Reeve's gonna be here soon." Tifa wrapped a long bath towel around Yuffie's neck and got to work.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After telling Tifa what Yuffie wanted for her hair to look like, she cut with caution and finally finished.  
  
"Okay, you can look in the mirror now." Tifa said as she untied the towel and allowed her to stand.  
  
Yuffie looked in the mirror and jumped with joy. "Yessss! Thank you! It's just the right length and style!"  
  
"You're welcome. But why did you want the EXACT same look as when we saved the world?"  
  
"Because I like that style. It's a good hair length for a ninja. Even though my mom had long hair that went to about the same length as yours, I like this. She wasn't really a ninja, even though she fought here and there."  
  
Tifa nodded. "Glad I could help."  
  
Yuffie grinned. "After all..."  
  
"We ARE sisters..." Tifa finished. Yuffie ran out of the bathroom and into her room.  
  
Tifa remembered something just then. "Hang on!" she shouted after the ninja girl. Yuffie stopped before she reached her room. "Yeah?"  
  
"Cloud told us to dress up. You know, just to be polite to Reeve. To show respect." Yuffie opened her door. "Alright."  
  
Tifa walked back to her room as Yuffie closed her door. She walked up to her closet and looked through all of her shirts.  
  
*Dressy clothes? Skirts? Dresses?* she pondered.  
  
*I don't have any of that. Wha--!*  
  
Yuffie spotted something she knew would be the perfect thing to wear. A tear formed in her eye as she carefully removed the hanger from it.  
  
She lay it softly on her bed. It was a beautiful snow-white kimono made from 100% pure cotton. It had soft pink rims on the sleeves and the rim at the bottom had the same tone.  
  
Yuffie ran her fingers over the soft fabric. A few tears escaped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.  
  
"Mom..." she whispered. She turned her head before the tears fell on the kimono. She didn't want to stain it. It was one of the most precious mementos her mother had ever given to her...except for the necklaces, of course.  
  
"Superior powers of the necklaces..." she whispered. She felt around her collarbone for the necklaces. As soon as she felt the two thin pieces of silver she smiled.  
  
"You were right, mom. The necklace helped us defeat Roy. But...why did you have two of them? I never saw dad wear one." Yuffie then gasped. "Was...was this necklace mine when I was little?! I don't remember wearing it..."  
  
Yuffie searched through her head.  
  
"Wait..."  
  
~~~Flashback~~~  
  
"Please Yuffie, don't ever lose this necklace." A gruff voice came from a tall man as he tied the necklace around a little girl's neck.  
  
"Okay daddy, but why?" the little girl no older than four years asked.  
  
"Because this used to be your mother's. Please take good care of it. She wanted to give it to you to remember her by. Actually..." the man walked back to his room. The little girl waited patently for him to return.  
  
As he did, he carried another silver necklace in his right hand. "I don't want you to lose this, either."  
  
"Is that like the one you put around my neck?" the girl asked.  
  
"Yes. Do you remember your mother wearing this before?"  
  
The girl nodded. "A little. She said something about Holy powers, didn't she?"  
  
"Yes. I don't want you to ever forget that."  
  
"Okay. And dad?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Is mommy ever coming back?"  
  
The man embraced his daughter in a tight hug. "I'm afraid not..."  
  
~~~End Flashback~~~  
  
Yuffie cried harder. "What if I didn't ever give that necklace to Vinnie? I would have been killed along with him. But it was weird...something like an instinct triggered in my mind. Was it mom?"  
  
She decided to focus on something else. She looked at her clock on the nightstand. "About 10 minutes 'till Reeve gets here." She carefully changed into her mother's kimono.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Where is Yuffie?" asked Cloud. "She's still getting ready. I hope she has something nice to wear. If she doesn't, I can always lend her something." Tifa responded.  
  
Vincent was wearing khaki pants and a tight black sweater with his hair pulled up into a loose ponytail. Cloud was wearing khaki pants as well with a light blue plaid shirt with long sleeves. His hair was gelled in his normal, long blond spikes. Tifa, of course, was wearing the same silk black spaghetti strap dress that was mentioned before, plus, she had her hair tied up into a bun and had make-up and lipstick on.  
  
Soon, they heard footsteps at the stairs. They all turned to face the young ninja girl, soon standing at the bottom.  
  
"Wow Yuffie...you look great!" Tifa finally spoke. "It's a traditional costume for special ceremonies in Wutai. I thought I'd wear it today as something special. And to tell you the truth, this is the first time I've ever worn it."  
  
"It's beautiful!" Tifa exclaimed. "Thank you. It was my mothers. I had almost forgotten that I brought it!" she said with a giggle.  
  
Vincent looked her up and down. "It looks a bit familiar..." he spoke.  
  
Yuffie, almost forgetting Vincent was Wutainese, jumped from surprise. It was like she just noticed he was in the room.  
  
"Oh...you might have seen it before. It was passed down from Kisaragi to Kisaragi. While you were in Wutai when you were little, if you attended any festivals, you probably saw another Kisaragi wearing it."  
  
"Yes...I saw your mother wearing it."  
  
The hair on the back of Yuffie's neck rose. "My mom? R-really? You...knew my mother?" Cloud and Tifa decided to leave this conversation to them and go call Reeve to make sure he was coming.  
  
"I saw her here and there. I don't recall ever talking to her, though."  
  
"How old was she when you first saw her?"  
  
"Hmm...I was about ten when I saw her again so...she was about fifteen or so."  
  
"Fifteen?!"  
  
"Yeah. She wanted to talk to me during the festival. She told me that she had a younger brother that was friends with Roy. She knew that I was a friend of Roy's as well. So, she wanted to know why Roy was misbehaving and causing trouble around the town. I had no clue what she meant by that because when I returned to Wutai, he was fine. He showed no sign of trouble to me. She told me to talk to him before he caused anything extreme."  
  
"Wow...I had no idea you knew my mom..."  
  
"She also asked me something else. She wanted to know how the kimono looked on her."  
  
"Ohh! Whatja say!?"  
  
"I said it looked great on her. I told her that she looked beautiful and that if she had a daughter to pass it on to, it would look beautiful on her as well."  
  
Yuffie felt her heart pound. "Really? Awe, you're so sweet!"  
  
"And it seems as though I was right. You look terrific." He said with a slight smile. "Thanks."  
  
"And you know what? You look just like your mother. You have the same eyes, face, and smile. I presume when you're older, you'll look just like her."  
  
"You even saw her when she was older?"  
  
"Yeah. She came to the Shinra building one day when I was taken away from my home."  
  
"I see." Right after Yuffie said that, the doorbell rang.  
  
"Reeve!" Cloud shouted. He ran up to the door. Yuffie shrank down in the couch. She had bad memories of him, even though it wasn't really him that was doing it.  
  
*His face was so grim. I hope it's changed...*  
  
As Cloud opened the door, a tall man walked in with his dark blue business suit on. Yuffie swallowed a large lump in her throat.  
  
"Hello everyone." Reeve said a little nervously. As he turned to face Yuffie, he felt a sharp pain in her eyes. Yuffie looked at his face.  
  
*His face is so gentle now...he's really changed.*  
  
Reeve walked over with his briefcase and sat in a chair next to Yuffie.  
  
"Listen Yuffie...I'm so sorry for what happened. I don't remember any of it, but a soldier that survived told me all about it. About how I---" Reeve hesitated.  
  
"It wasn't your fault. It was Roy's. And--"  
  
"No. Part of it was my fault. If Roy would have never found me in my office, he wouldn't have taken over my body."  
  
Cloud and Tifa sat in the living room and listened.  
  
"Exactly WHEN did he take over your body?" Cloud asked.  
  
"All I know is that it was before I came over here to take Roy to prison. That's why if anything happened here while I was being possessed, I'm REALLY sorry. I don't remember much after he knocked me out. I guess he somehow just took over my body."  
  
"Apology excepted, EVEN THOUGH you didn't do anything." Tifa said.  
  
"I'm just mainly sorry to everyone. But in general, Yuffie's the one who's suffered the most. I want to make it up to you, so I thought I'd buy you all lunch and maybe do something else."  
  
"Yummy! I'm starvin'!" Yuffie giggled. Reeve looked at her with a smile. "But it looks as though you haven't changed much." Yuffie grinned. "Well, a girl's gotta eat when a girl's gotta eat! Right Tifa?" she turned to Tifa.  
  
"Oh yeah! Let's pig out at a restaurant!" Tifa giggled. "Alright. Are we all ready? Cause I'm sorta hungry myself." Reeve said. "Yup!" Yuffie jumped up. "Sure." Vincent got up. Cloud and Tifa nodded and stood up. They all grabbed their coats and headed out the door.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"This is the most expensive place to eat, right?" Reeve asked. "Yep." Cloud answered. "Good. I want to make sure you guys get the best quality food in town. And of course, this is my treat so...pig out!" he laughed.  
  
They all picked up their menus and ordered when the waiter came. After their food came, they all ate different varieties of foods; noodles, steak, soup, steamed vegetables, salad, sandwiches, hamburgers, french fries, etc. They were enjoying the best food in town and having lots of conversations.  
  
Reeve ordered desserts for everyone; ice cream, pie, cake, hot fudge sundaes, cookies, etc. Everyone ate until they felt as though they were about to explode.  
  
Finally, one of the worst things from eating at a restaurant came to them: The bill.  
  
Yuffie took the bill from the waiter's hand and looked at the back. It had six pictures of smiley faces without mouths on it.  
  
"What's this?" she asked no one in particular. Vincent, who was sitting in the booth next to her, slid over and looked.  
  
"Oh, that's one of those reviewing cards. You draw the mouth on the face to resemble your answer to the question. See?" Vincent pointed at the possible mouths to use and at the questions with the faces at the bottom.  
  
"Oh...so a sad face means poor, a strait face means okay or average, and a smile means great. This should be fun!" She read the first question in her mind as Vincent watched her.  
  
*Was the food good? Umm, yeah! This is easy!* she drew a smile on the first face.  
  
"Haha..." she laughed as she drew a smile on the second one. "Well, I don't really care so..." Yuffie drew smiles on the rest of them without reading the question. "There..." she showed Vincent.  
  
He looked at the card and laughed. Yuffie laughed with him as she turned it over.  
  
They both stopped laughing when they saw the other side. There was a big line underneath the total for all the food. Yuffie giggled nervously as Vincent was breathless.  
  
The total read 37,496 gil.  
  
Yuffie leaned toward Vincent and whispered into his ear.  
  
"That is A LOT of money! He didn't have to order THAT much for us!" she pulled away as Vincent nodded. "I know. I usually spend a 100 gil or so for dinner and he spent this much just for lunch!"  
  
"Same here!" Yuffie whispered.  
  
"Okay let's see that bill." Reeve said. "Uhh..." Yuffie hesitated, but gave it to him anyway. "Only 37,000? That's not much. I would have expected more."  
  
Everyone's jaw dropped except Reeve's.  
  
"Are you fuckin' crazy?! That's WAY too much!" Yuffie nearly shouted. "Do you know how rich I am? This is like paying for a toothpick on the way out for me."  
  
"You're bluffing!" Yuffie felt jealous.  
  
"Nope. That's why I brought this briefcase..." he propped the briefcase up onto the table. He undid the buckles as the lid swung open. He revealed to everyone lots and lots of coins.  
  
Yuffie's jaw dropped again. "God damn!" some of the coins read 5,000 gil each. She saw only a few that read 50,000 gil. He pulled out one of the five gold coins that read 100,000 gil and showed it to her. "This briefcase is only 1/20 of my money."  
  
"Oh my God! That is a hell of a lot!" Cloud said.  
  
"Yuffie, everyone, I want you all to share this briefcase full of gil. Split it up equally and make good use of it. That's the only way I can repay you besides--" Vincent kicked Reeve in the shin. "Hey!" he shouted as Vincent put his finger up to his mouth and made a 'Shh...' sound.  
  
"Huh?" Yuffie asked. "What was he going to say?" Vincent winked at her. "It's a secret." He said in a playful voice.  
  
They all got out of the booths as Reeve gave the briefcase to Cloud. He declined the offer just to be polite, but Reeve insisted. As they walked up to the front desk, Reeve set the 100,000 gil coin on the desk with the bill.  
  
"Keep the change." He said coolly. "But Sir!" the man looked at the coin, not believing it was real. Reeve turned around and grinned. "That reminds me...just imagine what the tip is on the table."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Long chapter! But I'm glad I wrote it and I'm glad I have my inspiration back. Also, Ruri-sugar, just to let you know, italics and bold won't show up on my story either! Hmm...I wonder why...? 


	7. Counting the Money

Oh no...please I'm sorry for not writing in a while. Please don't be pissed. I'm doing the best I can. Anyway, for anybody who's still reading this fic, I hope you like this chapter and PLEASE R&R!  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Squaresoft owns FF7. I own nothing of it.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 6: Counting the Money]  
  
  
  
  
  
Reeve said his good-byes and left the four with the briefcase full of money and full stomachs. "Man that was good!" Tifa said while she plopped down on the couch.  
  
Yuffie moaned and groaned. "I hate WAY too much!" Cloud opened up the briefcase and dumped all the money on the floor. "How much do you think is there?" Yuffie asked as she sat on the floor across from Cloud. "I have no idea, but I know it's over 500,000 gil."  
  
"Sweet Jesus!" Yuffie cried. "Now remember, we split the money EQUALLY. And Yuffie, we all know you are a master of grand theft and--"  
  
"Hey!" Yuffie shouted. "I DO NOT steal anymore! I told you I've grown out of that stage." The young ninja girl looked hurt.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's just with all this money--"  
  
"You assumed I would steal it, right? I wouldn't steal from my friends!"  
  
"But you did when we were saving the world!"  
  
Yuffie winced back the pain. Tifa knew Cloud shouldn't have said that. Yuffie stood up defensively.  
  
"Listen, I was just trying to turn Wutai's 'resort-town' image into a more successful one, okay? Is it really THAT bad? I'm sorry if it took you days to get that materia but it was my JOB to steal it. Blame Lord Godo for what I did, okay?!"  
  
"But you also did it on your own will."  
  
Yuffie felt like exploding.  
  
"Naw DUH! Would you like living in a town that was a failure?! Would you, huh SOLDIER boy?!"  
  
Cloud hated that name, but he didn't want to blow up on Yuffie.  
  
"No."  
  
"That's what I thought. Got anymore questions? Cause I can sure answer them!!"  
  
Cloud shook his head. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."  
  
Yuffie then felt guilty for yelling at him. "No, I'm sorry for yelling."  
  
A few moments later, Vincent and Tifa joined them in counting the money.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vincent stretched out and yawned. "So the grand total is 765,432?" he asked. "Yup." Cloud replied. "I bet Reeve did that on purpose." Yuffie said. Everyone gave her a confused look.  
  
"You know, the whole countdown thing; 765432. I bet he did it on purpose." She explained. "Ohh..." everyone said.  
  
"Okay, okay, so that means we get 191,358 gil each, then." Yuffie said simply. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "How do you know?" Vincent asked, surprised at her quick thinking.  
  
"Being a ninja and all, I've had physical and mental training. If we ninjas didn't know math or science, we'd be dead!"  
  
Everyone but Vincent questioned her with their eyes. "Meaning that if we didn't know math or science, we couldn't attack properly and quick enough. We couldn't make much use of battle techniques. That's why we calculate it all in our minds BEFORE attacking. We study the enemy's attack system. When they attack and when they don't. It's not easy being a ninja..."  
  
"Hmm...when I lived in Wutai there weren't too many ninjas around. There were more civilians than ninjas as I recall." Vincent said to no one in particular.  
  
Yuffie turned to face him. "Yeah, there are still more civilians than ninjas today in Wutai, but not much. Wutai's recovering little by little after the war and there are a lot of people in it than before. When I left to go live with Cid there were about 5,000 people or so there before I left." (A/N: I know that in the game there are not that many people in Wutai, but there is now, okay?)  
  
Cloud and Tifa were still confused about the whole Vincent living in Wutai thing. They just decided not to ask.  
  
"Yeah, and about 3/5ths of those people are ninjas." Yuffie continued. "Not many want to train to be ninjas anymore, I guess." She looked at Cloud and Tifa, whom looked bored about the whole situation.  
  
"Sorry guys. Let's just grab our money and leave."  
  
"Wait, I want to make sure that 191,358 is the right amount." Cloud said as he ran into the kitchen to grab a calculator.  
  
"Go ahead, but I know I'm right. I've been home schooled until I was fifteen. Dad, Gorki, and Staniv all helped teach me. They taught me geography about Wutai's past as well as math and science." Cloud came back punching in numbers in the small mechanical device.  
  
"Okay, let's see...765,432 divided by 4 is..." Cloud's expression went blank. "She was right..." he said in monotone.  
  
"Ha! Told ya! I know my math!" Cloud felt a little jealousy swirl in his body. "Yeah, yeah. So we know you're good at math. Don't rub it in!" he said half-joking half-serious.  
  
"Okay, fine. Let's split the money now so I can take a nap! I'm stuffed and I need to sleep." She said. "But first..." Tifa started. "Is anybody up for dinner tonight? I mean, since we had a big lunch and all I was just wondering if anybody wanted anything to eat tonight."  
  
"No!" Cloud and Yuffie shouted at the same time. Vincent shook his head. "No, that's okay. I'm too full." Tifa sighed happily. "Good. I wasn't about to make dinner for anyone anyway."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
About fifteen minutes later everyone went upstairs to their rooms and hid the money in a save spot. Not because they were afraid one another would steal it, but if a burglar snuck in, they wouldn't find it very easy.  
  
Yuffie lay on her bed and looked up at her ceiling.  
  
*I gotta know what Vinnie was so happy about that day...* she thought.  
  
*~*Then just ask him yourself...*~* a voice within her head told her.  
  
*Maybe I should...* she sat up and leaped off her bed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vincent was writing something as he heard a knock at his door. "Who is it?" he asked. "It's me." Yuffie's familiar voice called. "Umm...hang on!" he called back.  
  
**Quick! Hide it!** Chaos growled.  
  
*I am!* Vincent shouted back at him.  
  
Yuffie heard papers being ruffled and drawers being opened and shut. "Hey, what's going on in there, Vinnie?" she asked. "Um, nothing!" he shoved a couple more papers in a drawer and shut it. "Okay, you can come in." he turned his chair back to the desk.  
  
She opened the door slowly and peered in. "What were you doing?" she asked curiously. "Oh that, that was nothing."  
  
"Are you sure?" he nodded. "Don't worry about it." Yuffie just remember why she came in his room. "Umm, Vinnie? Yesterday you were in Cloud's room and I heard you guys talking about something. And you sounded excited...so I was wondering, why were you so happy?"  
  
"You eavesdropped on us?"  
  
"Well not really..." Yuffie lied. "I kinda overheard it when I was in my room."  
  
"Oh. Well I can't tell you."  
  
Yuffie stomped her foot like a child. "Why the hell not!?"  
  
He put his finger up to his mouth and winked. "It's a secret..."  
  
"Here we go with the damn secret again! Please tell me!"  
  
"Sorry, no can do. You'll find out later."  
  
Yuffie thought for a moment. "Well do those papers you shoved into the drawer have something to do with it?"  
  
"Wha--? How'd you know about that?!"  
  
"I heard you. I'm not stupid. It does and I'll find out someday..." she walked briskly out of the room, closing the door with one swift movement. Vincent sat there in shock as he saw her leave. "I'm gonna have to find a better hiding place for this stuff..." he murmured.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Looks like I'm not getting any answers from him anytime soon..." Yuffie said as she walked back to her room with her arms crossed over her chest. "Oh well...I'll find out soon enough..."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sorry for a short chapter. I just posted this little one to get the story going again. Next chapter should be up in a couple of days. It'll be longer, I promise. Please review. Thanks. 


	8. Yuffie's Secret

Okay...still not any reviews...Is my story THAT bad? I'm sorry if I messed it up in anyway. Please, I'm losing inspiration...do you WANT me to throw it all away? I hope not...  
  
NOTICE: ~~~I AM A *HUGE* AVRIL LAVIGNE FAN, AND SO YUFFIE WILL BE SINGING SOME OF MY FAVORITE SONGS BY AVRIL IN THIS FIC. IF ANYBODY HAS A PROBLEM WITH THIS, THEN DON'T BOTHER READING THE STORY. THANK YOU.~~~  
  
Disclaimer: Squaresoft owns everything in FF7. I own nothing of that or any of Avril Lavigne's songs.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 7: Yuffie's Secret]  
  
  
  
  
  
"Just two more days..." Yuffie looked at the calendar in her room. "It's already the 18th...wow...time flies when you're waiting for a secret..." she said sarcastically. She was home alone at the time, which was very rare because Vincent hardly EVER left the house. Cloud and Tifa went to the mall and Vincent went to...well, not even Yuffie knew. All she knew is that they wouldn't be back for a long while.  
  
"Maybe..." Yuffie pondered. "Since I'm alone awhile...I can practice my skills. I mean, they won't be home for a while so, why not? I'll only do a few..." she went to her closet and pulled out a guitar case. She carried over to her bed and set it down carefully on it.  
  
She opened it and smiled. She pulled out an acoustic guitar and began tuning the strings. "It's been awhile since I last played this. And it was the hardest to sneak past Tifa when I moved in. I can't let anybody know about this. This is one of my biggest secrets, and ninjas shouldn't be playing guitars anyway! Dad would kill me if he ever saw it..."  
  
Yuffie bought that guitar with her own money when she was thirteen. She hid it from her father because he didn't like recreational arts like music, painting, or writing. He said a ninja should focus on fighting, martial arts, and studying how to become a better fighter with a shuriken. If her dad ever found out she had a guitar, ohh how he would smash it to pieces!  
  
Yuffie didn't have guitar lessons, she taught herself and found a book one day in a supermarket in Nibelheim. She bought it and learned gradually everyday in her room. She secretly played when her father wasn't home and she came up with her own lyrics.  
  
  
  
As soon as Yuffie finished tuning the musical instrument, she sat on her chair by the window and set it in her lap. She gently stroked the strings with her hand. She laughed at the sound she hadn't heard in a long while, and ABSOLUTLY NOBODY knew about her guitar. She sort of liked having a secret of her own, but it wasn't easy keeping it hidden. She thought about if Tifa ever cleaned out her closet. Oh no...she didn't want to know what Tifa would say if she found it...  
  
"Let's see...what song should I sing?" she thought aloud. She had come up with so many the recent years. She decided to try an easy one.  
  
"So many memories..." she said out of the blue. "I came up with those songs because I've had recent boyfriends that have hurt me. I like turning my anger and sadness toward song writing." She smiled. "Now...let's see..."  
  
"I know! I usually play a song that I feel. Right now I'm feel like playing Anything but Ordinary. That's one of my favorites!" she cleared her throat and grabbed one of the many chips she purchased with the guitar. She positioned her hand to the strings.  
  
  
  
"Sometimes I get so weird I even freak myself out I laugh myself to sleep it's my lullaby Sometimes I drive so fast just to feel the danger I want to scream it makes me feel alive  
  
Is it enough to love is it enough to breathe somebody Rip my heart out and leave me here to bleed is it Enough to die somebody save my life I'd rather be Anything but ordinary please  
  
To walk within the lines would make my life so boring! I want to know that I have been to the extreme So knock me off my feet come on now give it to me Anything to make me feel alive  
  
Is it enough to love is it enough to breathe somebody Rip my heart out and leave me here to bleed is it Enough to die somebody save my life I'd rather be Anything but ordinary please I'd rather be anything but ordinary please  
  
Let down your defenses use no common sense If you look you will see that this world is a Beautiful, accident, turbulent, succulent, opulent, Permanent no way I wanna taste it don't wanna waste it away  
  
~Pause~  
  
Sometimes I get so weird I even freak myself out I laugh myself to sleep it's my lullaby  
  
Is it enough, is it enough, is it enough to breathe Somebody rip my heart out and leave me here to bleed Is it enough to die somebody save my life I'd rather be Anything but ordinary please  
  
Is it enough, is enough to die somebody save my life I'd rather be anything but ordinary please Ohhh I'd rather be anything but ordinary please..."  
  
Yuffie laughed and stood up, holding the guitar in her hands. "Hahaha! I'm still a great singer!!" she laughed and spun around, feeling the happiest that she's felt this whole week. "And the guitar sounds great! Wow, I sounded so good, I never wanted to stop!" she twirled some more.  
  
"Oh yeah! I AM anything but ordinary! Hahaha!" she sat back down and thought of another one to play. "How about...Nobody's Fool? That's a song I wrote after I broke up with Brian. He was such a jerk! Trying to turn me into someone I wasn't! Who does he think he his?!" Yuffie shouted. "Ah, well it's over now. I can forget about that!" she laughed, then cleared her throat.  
  
"Fall back take a look at me and you'll see I'm for real I'll feel what only I can feel And if that don't appeal to ya let me know And I'll go cause I flow better where my colors show And that's the way it has to be honestly Cause creativity could never bloom in my room I'd throw it all away before I'd lie so don't call me with a compromise Hang up the phone I got a backbone stronger than yours  
  
Lalala...yeah  
  
If you're trying to turn me into someone else it's easy to see I'm not down with that I'm not nobody's fool If you're trying to turn me into something else I've seen it enough and I'm over that I'm not nobody's fool  
  
If you wanna bring me down...go ahead and try! Go ahead and try  
  
Don't know you think you know me like yourself But I fear that you're only telling me what I want to hear But do you give a damn understand that I can't not be what I am I'm not the milk and Cheerios in your spoon it's not a simple Here we go not so soon I might of fallen for that when I was fourteen and a little more green But it's amazing what a couple of years can mean  
  
Lalala...oh...yeah  
  
If you're trying to turn me into someone else it's easy to see I'm not down with that I'm not nobody's fool If you're trying to turn me into something else I've seen it enough and I'm over that I'm not nobody's fool  
  
If you wanna bring me down...go ahead and try! Go ahead and try  
  
Go ahead and try Try to look me in the eye But you'll never see inside Until you realize...  
  
Things are trying to settle down Just trying to figure out Exactly what I'm about If it's with or without you I don't need your doubt in me  
  
If you're trying to turn me into someone else it's easy to see I'm not down with that I'm not nobody's fool If you're trying to turn me into something else I've seen it enough and I'm over that I'm not nobody's fool  
  
If you wanna bring me down...go ahead and try! Go ahead and try  
  
Lalala...yeah..."  
  
Yuffie breathed out. "Phew! That was great! I haven't forgotten any of the notes or scales! I'm surprised I didn't screw up!" she giggled. "Oooh and how much I want to play so many more songs! Heh, maybe just two more. Nobody should be home by then..." she thought of what to play. "Hmm, how about Too Much to Ask? That song reminds me of my other boyfriend, Matt. He was such a dope! Gawd why did I ever go out with him? I wrote that song after we broke up. I hate him! Ugh, anyway..."  
  
"It's the first time I've ever felt this lonely Wish someone would cure this pain It's funny when you think it's gonna work out Till you chose weed over me you're so lame!  
  
I thought you were cool until the point Up until the point you didn't call me when you said you would Finally figured out you're all the same Always coming up with some kind of story  
  
Every time I try to make you smile You're always feeling sorry for yourself Every time I try to make you laugh You can't you're too tough You think you're loveless Is that too much that I'm askin' for..."  
  
She continued to play as Vincent opened the front door and froze in the doorway. "Yuffie??" he whispered. He quietly shut the door as he heard soft humming and sounds of a guitar. He stealthily snuck up the stairs and flattened himself against a wall. He crept near Yuffie's open door, his back against the wall so that he wouldn't be seen so easily. Vincent decided not to peek in, for it might surprise her. He stood outside of her door, listening to her hum for awhile and play the guitar.  
  
"Thought you'd come around when I ignored you Sorta thought you'd have the decency to change But babe I guess you didn't take that warning Cause I'm not about to look at your face again  
  
Can't you see that you lie to yourself You can't see the world through a mirror It won't be too late when the smoke clears Cause I am still here..."  
  
Vincent was amazed at her skills of both singing AND playing the guitar. She sounded so...so angelic. He couldn't wait to hear more. It was the most beautiful music he'd ever heard in his life and her voice was the most beautiful sound...  
  
"But every time I try to make you smile You're always going feeling sorry for yourself Every time I try to make you laugh You'd stand like a stone Alone in your zone Is that too much that I'm askin' for  
  
Yeah, yeah...yeah, yeah...  
  
Can't find where I am Lying here alone in fear Afraid of the dark No one to claim alone again  
  
Can't you see that you lie to yourself You can't see the world through a mirror It won't be too late when the smoke clears Cause I am still here  
  
Every time I try to make you smile You're always feeling sorry for yourself Every time I try to make you laugh You can't you're too tough..."  
  
Vincent stepped in the doorway as she sang the last bit of the song. He realized she had her eyes closed.  
  
"You think you're loveless ...It was too much that I asked him for..."  
  
She finished it and played the final notes for it. As she gradually slowed to a stop, she opened her eyes and saw the tall man standing at her doorway with a blank expression. Yuffie gasped.  
  
"Vincent...!!"  
  
  
  
  
  
Oh no...what will Vincent say? If anybody cares that is. *Sigh* Please I need inspiration. Please R&R!!  
  
2nd Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any of Avril Lavigne's songs. Anything but Ordinary, Nobody's Fool, and Too Much to Ask are all owned by her and her band (I think).  
  
ALSO: ~~~~~~~~FANFICTION.NET MIGHT HAVE PUT ALL THE LYRICS IN ONE LINE. IF THEY DID I AM VERY SORRY. IT IS NOT MY FAULT. I WROTE THEM ON SEPARATE LINES AND SOMETIMES FF.NET BUNCHES IT ALL TOGETHER, SO I'M SORRY.~~~~~~~ 


	9. Forgetting the Important Things

Kittie and No Style Thank You!! Somebody reviewed, yippee! Hehehe thanks a lot. When the review count read '15' I was like, "Oh my Gawd!!" and I was so happy. Thank you guys.  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing of FF7. Square owns that. Avril Lavigne owns her own songs so yeah. Or maybe Arista records own them? I don't know but whatever, I don't own 'em.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 8: Forgetting the Important Things]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Yuffie looked at Vincent with pleading eyes, as if telling him not to tell anyone about her secret.  
  
"Vinnie..." she looked away.  
  
"Yuffie...why didn't you ever tell me? I like music. I used to play the piano, but why didn't you ever tell me? I like the guitar too. And---"  
  
"Vinnie, it's not like that. I know most people like music. It's just..." she looked back at him.  
  
"Just what?"  
  
"It's just...ninja's aren't supposed to play musical instruments or paint or write stories. I disobeyed my father and my tradition. I didn't want anyone to know about this. Now, that even just one person found out, everyone will find out. Do you know what my father does to ninjas that do this kinda stuff? He'll teach me a lesson I'll never forget..."  
  
"Not to you. Don't worry about it so much."  
  
"I have to! I'm his own daughter and I disobeyed him..."  
  
"That's ridiculous. Lord Godo will understand. Why can't ninjas take place in these activities?"  
  
"Because it "Ruins our focus" he says. But being all ninja would be boring! I want a little fun in life too, you know?" Something flickered in her mind.  
  
*To walk within the lines would make my life so boring!*  
  
"Oh! That's another reason I wrote that song!" Yuffie quickly covered her mouth after she realized what she had just said, but it was too late. "Oops..."  
  
"What?! You even write your own songs too? This keeps getting better and better!"  
  
"I write a lot of songs and--- wha--? You think it's getting better? Because I have a guitar that I can play really good, write my own songs, and sing them? Are you just foolin' around?"  
  
Vincent shook his head. "No. I'm serious. You should play for Cloud and Tifa."  
  
"Wha--? Are you kidding?! They'd tell everyone!"  
  
"What does it matter? It's not like Lord Godo's going to find out."  
  
"Yeah but still...I never wanted to be famous. Maybe around friends and family, but not other people because well..."  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Well, if I'm famous, I'll never see you guys or Wutai ever again! I don't want that! Although...I wouldn't mind having all that money to spend!" She laughed.  
  
"Can you play one more song? Tifa called me just before I got home and told me that her and Cloud would be out for a little longer. Please? I love your singing voice as much as your normal one!" Vincent begged.  
  
"Y-you like my voice? Really?" Yuffie became enlightened by his words.  
  
"Yeah! I sure do! And the way you play is awesome! Please, just one more!" he begged some more.  
  
*He's not acting very Vincent-like. Hmm...*  
  
"Alright, one more. I'll let you choose one of the three songs I list." Vincent nodded. "Okay, either--"  
  
"Wait. What was the one you were singing when I came in?"  
  
"Oh that one? That one's called 'Too Much to Ask'. I'm not playing it again. I hate playing the same song twice in a row."  
  
"Did you play anymore songs when I wasn't here?"  
  
"Yup. Two other ones, but I'm not playing them either. One was called 'Anything but Ordinary' and the other was 'Nobody's Fool'."  
  
"Haha, anything but ordinary, that sure suits you!" he chuckled as he walked over to her bed and sat down on it.  
  
"I know, that's why I wrote it. But anyway, pick one of these three: 'Unwanted', 'Losing Grip', or 'Tomorrow'." Vincent thought for a moment.  
  
"Umm, Losing Grip. No wait, Unwanted, no wait! Uh, Losing Grip! Argh, hang on..."  
  
**Pick Tomorrow** Chaos grunted.  
  
*Why?*  
  
**Cause I said so. Just do it, you'll find out why once you hear it.**  
  
Vincent usually had to trust Chaos in battle situations, but this he didn't know about. After another minute of thinking, he finally said...  
  
"Tomorrow."  
  
"Okay." Yuffie cleared her throat. "I haven't sang this in a while..." she strummed her guitar a bit, then began...  
  
"And I wanna believe you When you tell me that it will be okay Yeah I try to believe you But I don't  
  
When you say that it's gonna be It always turns out to be a different way I try to believe you Not today...  
  
I don't know how I'll feel Tomorrow, tomorrow I don't know what to say Tomorrow, tomorrow is a different day..."  
  
Yuffie strummed some more on the strings with the chip. Vincent was shocked about how beautiful her voice was. It was even more beautiful than when she sang 'Too Much to Ask'. (A/N: By the way, if you haven't heard this song yet, it's a really good song. It's really pretty and soft.)  
  
"It's always been up to you It's turning around it's up to me I'm gonna do what I have to do Just don't Give me a little time Leave me alone a little while Maybe it's not too late Not today...  
  
I don't know how I'll feel Tomorrow, tomorrow I don't know what to say Tomorrow, tomorrow is a different day  
  
Hey yeah yeah Hey yeah yeah And I know I'm not ready Hey yeah yeah Hey yeah yeah Maybe tomorrow  
  
Hey yeah yeah Hey yeah yeah I'm not ready Hey yeah yeah Hey yeah yeah Maybe tomorrow  
  
And I wanna believe you When you tell me it will be okay Yeah I try to believe you Not today...  
  
Today...today...today...today...  
  
Tomorrow it may change... Tomorrow it may change... Tomorrow it may change... Tomorrow it may change..."  
  
As far as the words go, Yuffie put the finishing touches on them. She continued to play the last, slow and soft rhythm of the song. As soon as she finished, Vincent was silent and looked as stiff as a board on the bed. Yuffie opened her eyes and looked at him. (A/N: Most of the time she'll have her eyes closed when playing a song she enjoys.)  
  
"So, what'd ya think? Good, bad, what? Vinnie...?" she stared at him as he held perfectly still. "What's wrong? Was it THAT bad?"  
  
Vincent slowly shook his head, focusing his vision on only one part of the room. He never took his eyes off it as he said something barely above a mumble.  
  
"T-that was..."  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"..."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"It just reminded me of something..."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"...About my mother..."  
  
"...Oh..."  
  
"She always used to tell me that tomorrow is a different day. That if you mess up one day, then you could always wait until tomorrow to forget about it. But I know now, that is not true."  
  
"..."  
  
"My mother was wrong. My father killed a bunch of Shinra employees. He couldn't forget about it the next day. You can't forget anything like that. Not even if you were in your nineties."  
  
"Vinnie...stop. Don't think so grim."  
  
"I loved the song. It was beautiful and someday...I want you to sing it again. Just not now."  
  
"Vinnie..."  
  
He looked towards her. "It was also sad as well. Thank you. It made me remember my memories of my terrible father, but then let them go. Thanks."  
  
"Uh...no problem!" Yuffie smiled and scratched the back of her head. "If you think that song is a bit sad, I have another sad one, but it's not sad as it seems, really. The first time you hear it, it might be. But I don't think it's TOO sad."  
  
"...."  
  
"Cheer up."  
  
"I am happy, it's just I'm a little spaced out. So many memories are flashing through my mind."  
  
"Hmm. Well I'd better put this up before Cloud and Tifa get home." Yuffie got to her feet and set the guitar in the case along with the chip. She carried it back to her closet and set it in the back.  
  
"Please...don't tell anyone. If you do, I'll tell about your dark past." Yuffie said with a serious tone and expression. Vincent nodded. "I promise."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Do...do you think you could ever play the electric guitar?" Vincent stood up and stretched.  
  
"Well now, is Vincent Valentine into rock music?" she teased.  
  
"Only if you played it."  
  
"Really? How sweet. But I probably could if I had one. If I practiced a lot."  
  
*Hmm...*  
  
"Well, there's only two days left."  
  
"Until what?" Yuffie's curiosity got the best of her.  
  
"Until the BIG surprise. The secret you've wanted to know for a while."  
  
"A surprise birthday party?!"  
  
Vincent put on a fake confused look. "A birthday party? In two days? Who would we throw a party for?"  
  
Yuffie's bright, glowing eyes went to dull, faint ones.  
  
"No...I was just askin' if we were throwing one for someone. Never mind..."  
  
Vincent knew what he'd done. He wanted it like this, but for some reason, he hated seeing Yuffie this way.  
  
"Haha, no but you'll see." He walked out of her room and went to his. As soon as she heard his door shut, she ran up to her door, shut it quietly, and climbed onto her bed.  
  
Yuffie buried her face into her pillow and began sobbing softly.  
  
"...I-I can't believe he forgot my birthday...!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Aww poor Yuffie, but she doesn't know she's gonna get the surprise of a lifetime! Hehehe, please review!! 


	10. The Big Surprise

Hello to all! Thanks for the reviews and I love ya all!  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Avril Lavigne's songs and I don't own FF7 or anything in it, 'kay?  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 9: The Big Surprise]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
She rolled over in her bed. The girl that we all know as the hyperactive ninja that can NEVER run out of energy: Yuffie. She rolled over again and fell off her bed and onto the floor with a loud 'Thud'.  
  
Instantly, she woke up half scared to death. "Wha--?" she sat up, tangled in her covers and becoming enraged with all the mishaps that have happened lately.  
  
"Gawddamnit!" she yelled. "Why does bad stuff always have to happen to me!?" she sat up, rubbing her bloodshot eyes from crying so much the past night.  
  
She managed to pull herself up. She drug herself to the bathroom and combed her messy hair. "Gawd I look like crap. I feel like I was ran over by a truck!" she brushed her teeth, washed her face, and then exited the bathroom. She changed into some blue jeans and put on a black T-shirt. She put on her headband just to keep her hair out of her eyes.  
  
As she left her room, she saw Vincent walking downstairs. She had no idea of what to say to him, whether to be mad that he forgot her birthday, or to be depressed that she thought that only her father knew her birthday was tomorrow.  
  
She sucked in a big gulp of air and exhaled groggily. She hated making decisions like this.  
  
*Just forget about it...* she told herself.  
  
She proceeded to the staircase, but as she got there, she saw Vincent looking up at her.  
  
She had no idea why, but she blushed a light pink.  
  
*What's he looking at?!*  
  
Vincent had a solemn look on his face. It looked as though he'd been awaken from his coffin again.  
  
After a few moments of staring at each other, he turned around and walked down the stairs and was making his way into the kitchen.  
  
*What?! He just turns his back on me!? Doesn't he know what he's done?!*  
  
Yuffie was struck by her own words.  
  
*Oh...yeah...he forgot...*  
  
She sat on the top stair and buried her face in her palms.  
  
"How...why did he forget?" she whispered to herself.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vincent looked up at Yuffie from the kitchen. He knew he shouldn't have went through with this. He didn't know it would make her THAT sad...  
  
**Well duh! Let's see, if you forget her birthday, maybe she'll be happy? Hmm what do you think?** Chaos murmured.  
  
*Shut up! I knew she'd be sad, but not like this...there's something wrong. She's...different.*  
  
**Maybe because she TRUSTED you. Ever think of that?**  
  
*Oh no...she might have lost all trust in me! I never thought of that! What do I do!?*  
  
**Just play it off. Go through with the surprise and she'll regain that trust. Believe me.**  
  
Maybe the beast was right...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie heard a loose board on one of the steps creak. Her head flung up as she saw Vincent five steps away from her. She stared down at him when her mind told her to look away. She couldn't help it; it was like she was being manipulated.  
  
"Yuffie I---" He cut himself off and looked into her eyes. He gaped and stood there, searching for words to say.  
  
*She's been crying...*  
  
**Looks like all night too...**  
  
"Uh...just..." he couldn't stop thinking about what he'd done. "Go pack." He suddenly said seriously.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Just go and pack. We're going on vacation."  
  
Curiosity stirred up in the young ninja. "We as in who?"  
  
"Just the two of us. C'mon, go and pack. We're leaving for quite some time. Bring everything you brought here just in case."  
  
*In case of what?!* She pondered in her thoughts.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"We're leaving today."  
  
"What?! Today!?" Cloud and Tifa both shouted.  
  
"Shhh! She's not supposed to know!"  
  
Cloud shook his head. "Why today? I mean, tomorrow's her birthday, right? Why are you leaving now?"  
  
"I'd think it'd be best for the both of us. She's been feeling...well...homesick I guess."  
  
"Homesick? But her home's in Wutai."  
  
"Well, yes I know, but maybe she'll like the idea of this..."  
  
Tifa shrugged. "Maybe. But I know I'm gonna miss the both of you. I can't believe you're leaving now!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie threw all her clothes in her duffel bags. "I don't know whether to be mad at him or not. Well it's not his fault I guess. It's just a birthday...heh."  
  
She packed all of her materia, accessories, and her Conformer. As soon as she made sure all her clothes and everything was packed, she threw her duffel bags out in the hallway. Just as she did so, Vincent appeared by her door.  
  
"All packed?"  
  
"Huh? Oh...yeah." She said gloomily.  
  
Vincent took her bags and carried them downstairs. Yuffie walked out along with him.  
  
As soon as she reached the buggy, she hopped in the passenger's side.  
  
"Let me go and get the rest of my stuff. I'll be right back." Vincent said and left.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vincent reached his room and grabbed all of the stuff he owned and carried it out into the hall. Just to make sure Yuffie had everything she owned packed, he peeked into her room.  
  
"Ah, oh no!" he hurriedly grabbed the guitar in the closet. "I can't let her forget this!"  
  
He looked around the rest of the room. He saw nothing that he thought she owned. He grabbed the guitar and the rest of his stuff. Something flickered in his mind.  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Promise me you won't tell anybody..."  
  
"I promise..."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Ah crap!" he set the stuff down on the ground. "How am I gonna get her guitar in the buggy without her, Cloud, AND Tifa seeing it? Ah this is gonna be a pain in the ass!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie stretched her legs in the compact vehicle. As she saw Vincent carry the things out to the buggy, she yawned.  
  
"Where exactly are we going?" she stopped yawning and gaped as she saw something in Vincent's arms that looked...strangely familiar.  
  
"What ya got there?" she asked. "Uh, this? Haha, this is nothing!" he opened the back of the buggy and packed it in. "Wait, that's my guitar isn't it!?" she almost shouted. "What are you doing!? Put it back before Cloud and Tifa see!!"  
  
"No. I can't go on this trip without hearing some of your songs!"  
  
Yuffie blushed. "Really? Am I really THAT good?"  
  
Vincent nodded and closed the back of the buggy. "Are we all set?"  
  
"No wait, I wanna say good-bye to Tifa and Cloud. How long are we out for anyway."  
  
Vincent almost grinned. "Longer than you can imagine..."  
  
Yuffie gave him a weird glance and shrugged it off. She ran into the house as Vincent followed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"All right you guys, Vinnie's being stubborn and won't tell me where we're going and how long we're leaving for, so I'll see you later, 'kay?"  
  
Tifa and Cloud waved good-bye as she left to go back to the buggy. Vincent stayed behind.  
  
"I'm gonna miss you guys..." Tifa said sadly. "Yeah. I'm sorry it's so sudden. Thanks for the hospitality and letting us stay. Yuffie would say the same thing if she knew she was leaving for good. Anyway, I made the beds and cleaned the rooms so it'll look like we were never here."  
  
Tifa began to sob. She covered her face with her hands. "I-I'm sorry...it's just...I don't want you to ever leave..." Cloud hugged her close. "It'll be okay. We'll see them soon, okay? No need to worry..."  
  
"Well I think I've got everything...ah...!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The Masamune! I forgot about that!" Vincent ran upstairs and into his room.  
  
He grabbed the long sword off the wall and attached it to his belt side. He then remembered something else as well.  
  
"Death Penalty..." he opened the drawer to his desk and pulled out the small handgun. "I wonder...where did Roy's gun go when he died...?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ah, come on Vinnie!" Yuffie hit the dashboard with her fist. She was getting impatient.  
  
*Hmm...this trip...why would he plan it like this? Just come up to me and say "Go pack"? There's somethin' wrong with this situation...* then it hit Yuffie.  
  
*He...he didn't forget! Hahaha! He didn't forget! I knew it! He couldn't have forgotten! He said he remembers the most important things so...he didn't forget!*  
  
Yuffie hummed happily and closed her eyes.  
  
*This trip was to be a birthday present! He just planned it to fool me I bet! Even though my birthday's tomorrow, he's just planning to do it today!*  
  
Before she knew it, the buggy's engine started and a door slammed shut.  
  
"Whoa Vinnie! I was just thinking..." She then realized the sword on his belt. She winced at it, then immediately decided forget about it.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I know. You don't have to pretend you forgot my birthday."  
  
"Huh? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Aw, come on you don't have to play around anymore. I know you tried foolin' me."  
  
"Hmm, you're pretty smart..."  
  
"Thanks!"  
  
*But not smart enough...hehehe...*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vincent stopped at a convenience store on the outskirts of Kalm. He wanted to buy a gas canister for the road so they'd never run out. As he walked into the convenience store, he spotted a black-haired girl. She looked in her mid-twenties or so. But to Vincent, she was...strangely familiar.  
  
As he picked out a canister of gas, she stared at the sword on his waist. He just shook of her glance and went to the front counter to pay for it.  
  
"You..." she said blankly. "Let me see that blade..."  
  
Vincent looked at her with surprise.  
  
"I'm sorry but do I know you?"  
  
"You should..." she stared into his eyes with an empty expression on her face. "Let me see that blade."  
  
"No."  
  
"Can you at least remove its case so I can see the blade itself?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because...I need to know..."  
  
Vincent shrugged. What harm could it cost if she just saw it, not had it in her possession?  
  
He drew the blade only halfway, then slid it back into the case.  
  
"I knew it. You're the one..."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Thirteen days..."  
  
"Vinnie! Hurry up!" Yuffie called from the buggy as he whipped around to see.  
  
"Uh..." he turned back to the girl, but he saw nothing.  
  
"Wha--? Vanished?!"  
  
"Vinnie!"  
  
"Uh yeah, coming!" he gave the cashier the money for the gas. "That girl..." she began. "I'd stay away from her if I were you." She handed him his change.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"They say she's nothin' but trouble. Keep your distance." She waved him away with her hand. "Move along now, there's nothin' to see here."  
  
Vincent walked out with the canister in his arms.  
  
"I wonder what she was talking about? Thirteen days?" Vincent loaded the gas canister in the back as Yuffie pulled a cassette tape from her pocket. He hopped back in the buggy as she popped it in the tape player.  
  
"What's that?" he asked, starting the buggy and pulling out of Kalm.  
  
"Oh this? I was just gonna listen to my songs on here. I made a mixed tape."  
  
"Really? What kind of songs are on here?"  
  
"Actually, I don't remember, but let's just listen to some..."  
  
"Alright, alright! This is Yuffie's mix tape! Don't y'all DARE to record over this!!" Came Yuffie's voice from the radio. Yuffie giggled. "Oh yeah, now I remember..."  
  
"This is song number one! And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three!"  
  
"Sometimes I get---" [Click!]  
  
"Hey, why'd you change it?" Vincent asked.  
  
"That's one of my favorites, but I've heard it SO much."  
  
"Which one was it?"  
  
"Anything but Ordinary. Like I told you about before."  
  
"Ah, I see. But can we please hear it anyway?"  
  
"Ah...fine..." she turned it back.  
  
~~~Anything but Ordinary Starts~~~  
  
They listen to it and Yuffie hums most of it to herself.  
  
~~~Anything but Ordinary Ends~~~  
  
"Wow, that sounded just like you!" Vincent thought about how it was a little sad as well.  
  
"Cause I sang it, duh!"  
  
"No, no, I mean it's about you. You ARE anything but ordinary!" they both laughed a bit as Yuffie's voice came on the radio again.  
  
"Song two! Hope ya love it!"  
  
"Please tell me what---" [Click!]  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"No. You can't hear that one!" she giggled.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I laughed so much in it and I messed up! I couldn't erase it unless I erased song one as well! So hahaha, I'll play it for you. It was called 'My World.'"  
  
"Hmm, well how about song three?"  
  
"Nah, the rest of the songs I'll play for you. Don't worry."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~30 minutes later~  
  
Vincent concentrated mostly on driving, but his mind couldn't forget about that girl at the convenience store.  
  
*What was she talking about, "Thirteen days"?*  
  
**I never saw her before...**  
  
*Hmm...she seemed familiar in some way...*  
  
Vincent had almost forgotten about Yuffie's presence. He turned his head to the passenger's side of the buggy.  
  
She was sleeping soundly, her head against the window.  
  
"So beautiful..." he whispered.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~10 minutes later~  
  
Yuffie yawned and stretched. "Ahh...nice catnap!" she giggled and looked at the scenery ahead of her. "The Coral Prison desert? What are we doing here?"  
  
"We're just passing it."  
  
"Oh. Can't you tell me where we're going? Pleeeease?"  
  
"It's a secret."  
  
"Aww man..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~10 minutes later~  
  
"Lalala...yeah..." Yuffie sang.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Fall back take a look at me and you'll see I'm for real...oh! Oops, kinda dazed out there."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nobody's Fool."  
  
"Hmm I see..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~30 minutes later~  
  
"Hey, we're pulling into Nibelheim...?" Yuffie asked.  
  
"..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~15 minutes later~  
  
Yuffie played with her jacket sleeves as Vincent drove up the rocky hillside. The buggy slid around on the slick, icy snow every once and a while, but he had it under control.  
  
*I wonder what we're doing up here? I thought we were going to Costa Del Sol to relax on a warm vacation, but instead, we're going up snowy mountainsides? Hmm...and I've never seen these mountains before...*  
  
Yuffie thought for awhile.  
  
*The only mountains in Nibelheim I've seen were the ones Tifa, Cloud, and Sephiroth traveled on. No wait...Cloud made up that story. Tifa, Zack, and Sephiroth traveled on it then. Hmmm, still, I've never seen these before. The ones we traveled on didn't have snow and weren't as beautiful as these. I wonder how Vinnie found these?*  
  
Yuffie stared out the window at the falling snow. It was truly beautiful.  
  
Vincent shifted gears on the buggy to make it go uphill. He grunted in frustration a few times from failure.  
  
"Can we make it up?" Yuffie asked.  
  
"Yeah, don't worry."  
  
He finally shifted it into 1st and floored it. The buggy span up the rocky mountainside and managed to make it to the very top. He drove slowly and carefully here.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After a few more miles of driving in thick, heavy snow, Vincent and Yuffie reached a log cabin that looked as though in was in the middle of nowhere. She put her face against the glass and gasped.  
  
"Whooooa........!" she whispered, not believing what she saw. "It's so beautiful...!"  
  
Vincent smiled when she wasn't looking. He pulled up next to it and switched gears to 'park'.  
  
"Huh? What are we doing?" she asked as he turned off the engine.  
  
"Get out."  
  
She gave him a questionable look, but then shook it off and stepped out of the car. He stepped out along with her.  
  
"Look at it...do you like it?" he asked, walking up to her.  
  
"Yeah...who owns this cabin? They must be lucky to live here!"  
  
"Heh. You do."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You live here, Yuffie."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Whoa! Yuffie finally found out the surprise! But...is there more to it than that? Find out next chapter!! Please review!!!! 


	11. Moving In

Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting! Here's chapter ten! Please R&R!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or Avril Lavigne's songs.  
  
  
  
  
  
[Chapter 10: Moving In]  
  
  
  
  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Hopefully, I'll be getting us a house to live in."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Together..."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Ah, so this is the house you got us??" The young ninja asked.  
  
"Yes. Happy birthday." The gunslinger replied.  
  
Yuffie squealed with joy and hugged him tight. "You really, really, really got us this house?!" she asked again, really excited by now.  
  
"Yes and I hope you like it."  
  
"Like it? I LOVE it!! You are so sweet to get this!!"  
  
"Sorry for upsetting you."  
  
"Aww, naw, I knew you couldn't forget my birthday! And this is better than ANY vacation!"  
  
Vincent smiled. "I'm pleased to know you enjoy it. I thought you might like the scenery along with the log cabin atmosphere."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Three scrolls of the white tiger..."  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Um, yeah! I love it!" she giggled. "How'd you know I'd like it, though?"  
  
"Simple. Everyone in Wutai likes snowy backgrounds in life. I thought you would, too."  
  
A tear came to her eye. "Thank you so much..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Gawd! We sure gotta lot of stuff!" Yuffie said as she helped Vincent carry in the luggage. "Are you sure you got it all?"  
  
"Yeah, for the millionth time, I made sure we had it all before we left!" He grabbed two suitcases as Yuffie grabbed her duffel bags. "Just making sure!"  
  
She walked up to the front of it and looked behind it. Behind it was a long slope that dropped steeply downward. So...they really lived at the top of a mountain...  
  
Yuffie stared over the horizon. So many thoughts rushed through her mind.  
  
*For some reason...this place...reminds me of...Aeris...*  
  
Yuffie dropped her bags and fell to her knees. Vincent dropped his luggage and ran over to her.  
  
"Yuffie! Are you okay?! What's the matter?!"  
  
She buried her face into her palms and sobbed uncontrollably.  
  
*...Aeris...*  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
A young, teenage girl walked up to the form of a young woman with her back hunched up against a wall.  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
She lowered her head and sobbed a few times, then walked over to a blond- haired man.  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
She sobbed a few more times and leaned forward, the blond-haired man catching her in mid-fall. She cried into his chest, letting her tears fall freely.  
  
~~Flash~~  
  
"Cloud...." Yuffie whispered. She cried a little louder. "Aeris..."  
  
"...Yuffie..." Vincent bent down to comfort her. "Please don't think about that right now..." she removed her hands from her face and looked at him, soon-to-be-spilt tears swirling in her eyes. "I-I can't stop thinking about it..."  
  
Yuffie's voice was harsh and dry. She grabbed Vincent and cried into his chest. "Please don't die...I can't bare to see another person I care about die..." Vincent closed his eyes and gently placed his claw on her back. "......"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Are you positive you're okay now?" Vincent asked with concern as he lay back on the couch, watching over Yuffie carefully.  
  
Yuffie was hunched forward in a chair sipping some hot chocolate. "Yeah, I'm sorry if I scared you back there. I was just thinking about stuff..." she fiddled around with the mug.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"...Yeah...I think so..."  
  
"Thinking about what?"  
  
"Well, this cabin sorta reminds me of Aeris...just somehow..."  
  
".............."  
  
*I wonder why?* Vincent thought.  
  
**Did Aeris have anything to do with these mountains or anything?**  
  
*I don't know...*  
  
"I don't know why, though. It's so strange...maybe it was because of the Ancient City? The Forgotten Capital? Remember, it was in that deep crevasse with all that ice and stuff surrounding it? But why would it remind me of this place?"  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
"Well, whatever. It's over now and I don't need to worry about it. I'm sorry I got all upset back there. You didn't need to worry too much." She rotated her mug around in circles and watched the hot chocolate swish around.  
  
"Hmm...well if you just want to forget about it that easily, then I guess it's fine. Let's get unpacked into our new home."  
  
Yuffie smiled.  
  
*Home...*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Yeah, hahaha! I knew there was something up when you were like 'Pack all of your stuff just in case.' That was so lame! Hahaha! I knew you had something weird planned!"  
  
Vincent grinned. "Was it THAT obvious?"  
  
They both laughed as they walked down the hallway. "So you have all of the furniture in here? Who helped you with all of this?"  
  
"Reeve." He said simply.  
  
"So that's why you kicked him in the restaurant!" she giggled. "Oh, by the way, does this have a second floor?"  
  
"Well, yes and no. There is a second floor, but it only has one room on it. It's kind of like a storage room. I'll show you once we're done unpacking."  
  
"Mmm kay." Yuffie smiled, but then realized...  
  
*Wait a minute! If we live in the same house together...alone...then...do we share a room?!?!!?* she pondered in her thoughts.  
  
"Uh...Vinnie..." she stammered. "Hmmm?" they both stopped in the hallway.  
  
*How do I put this into words? Ahh! Think Yuffie, think! 'Are we sleeping in the same bed together?' Yeah right! What do I say?! Oh no...he's looking at me all funny now...*  
  
"Err..."  
  
*'Are we sleeping in the same room together?' No! How do I say it?! Gawd damn it! This is all my fault!*  
  
"What--"  
  
"AHHH!" Yuffie screamed from being taken out of deep thought so quickly.  
  
"Sorry, what did I say?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, nothing...I was just lost in thought..."  
  
"Well then, what were you going to ask me?"  
  
"Never mind, it's not important anyway..."  
  
"Okay..."  
  
They proceeded down the long hallway until they reached one of the rooms. "This is your room. How do you like it?" Yuffie's jaw dropped in awe.  
  
Inside was a nicely made bed with pink flower pedals spread out across the pillow and blankets. There was several candles that lit up the whole room and they were scented as vanilla. The room looked like a fancy hotel room that would cost over 500,000 Gil to sleep in.  
  
"It smells wonderful and it's beautiful..." she hugged him again, letting her duffel bags drop to the floor. "Who lit the candles?"  
  
"I told Reeve to stop by right before we got here and light them. It's not as fancy as I wanted it to be, but hey, what do you expect in a log cabin?" he chuckled.  
  
"It's okay. I don't like REALLY fancy stuff anyway. Where'd you get the flowers?"  
  
"....."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I don't want to say..."  
  
"C'mon! The surprise is up! Tell me!"  
  
"No, it's not that. Do you really want to know?"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"Promise you won't get upset?"  
  
"Huh? Why?"  
  
"Because they're from Aeris' flower garden."  
  
"......" Yuffie sighed.  
  
"I'm sorry. But I though you'd like them."  
  
"I do! I really do! It's just...I just miss Aeris, okay?"  
  
"I understand. Go ahead and unpack in your room." He turned and walked away.  
  
"Wait! I really love my room! Don't misunderstand!"  
  
"Okay. I believe you." He smiled.  
  
She smiled back. "Thanks for the room."  
  
He nodded, turned around, and walked off.  
  
Yuffie ran into her room with her duffel bags and shut the door.  
  
"Hahahaha!" she dropped the duffel bags on the floor. "Hehehahaha!"  
  
*And I almost believed he and I were going to share a room!*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yuffie finished unpacking and went over to her bed. She slid her hand over the delicate fabric. "Wow...he put this all together for me..." she whispered.  
  
She picked up a flower pedal and held it in her palm. "It's so soft..."  
  
*He didn't have to put all this together for me...*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vincent finished unpacking and dusted himself off. A job well done.  
  
He opened his door and walked out. He shut the door behind him and turned briefly just to see Yuffie standing there, with her arms crossed. "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there."  
  
"Are you going to show me the second floor, now?"  
  
He nodded and led her to the entrance of the 'second floor'. "Now, this is just like an attic. It's not that big and it's only one room."  
  
"Okay."  
  
He opened the door to reveal a spiral staircase, made from steel from the looks of it. The steps and rail was painted black and it was a small room with a window to the left. It was so small that you couldn't reach the window too easily without having trouble getting past the stairs.  
  
"Ladies first..." he gestured her forward. "Thank you."  
  
Yuffie climbed the spiral stairs, which led to another door when she reached the top. Vincent motioned for her to open it. When she opened it, she saw that it was VERY dusty inside. "Hmmm..."  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that. I still need to clean this up." Yuffie recalled something in her memory.  
  
"Hey, did you build this?"  
  
"No. It's actually a pretty old cabin."  
  
"Oh, I see. But this room isn't too small." She scanned the room over and over. It was just an old room that looked like an attic, the only thing lighting it up was the window to the left.  
  
"I just thought of something..."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Did you mean what you said back there?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"When you packed up my guitar, you said you couldn't live without my music. Did you really mean that or did you use it as an excuse for just bringing it because we were moving?"  
  
"I love your music, you know that. Which do you think I meant?" she smiled. "Because you couldn't live without it."  
  
"Right." He smiled and gestured for her to follow him back downstairs.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey, are you hungry?" he asked. "Not really, but I could use a snack."  
  
"What would you like?" he said as he opened the refrigerator. "What do we-- Holy Jesus!" Yuffie shouted. "Where'd you get all of this food?!"  
  
"I told Reeve to put some in for us. I guess this isn't very much to him." He looked over the packed-full refrigerator and snickered. "Oh well."  
  
"We got enough to last us years!" she laughed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was 10:00 p.m. as Yuffie decided to hit the sack. "Boy, I'm beat!" she laughed as she collapsed onto her bed. "Hey, I wonder what Vinnie's room looks like? Hmm..."  
  
She changed into her pajamas and hopped into her nice, comfy bed. She put her flower pedals in a book to dry them and keep them for good luck. "Haha, for good luck I might as well equip Luck Plus materia! Hahaha!" she snuggled farther into her bed. "So soft and warm..." she blew the candle out and turned over. "I love this cabin..."  
  
  
  
  
  
I hope you liked that chapter! Please review! 


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